The Evolution of Nominal Convergence After Accession to The European Union. The Case of Romania

Economic and Monetary Union is the result of progressive economic integration that includes collective regulation for the free movement of goods, services, labor, capital, and products. Economic and Monetary Union presupposes a common currency and market, but also a monetary policy coordinated by the European Central Bank, which has the role of ensuring economic stability. In this context, the countries wishing to join must be prepared to deal with possible economic imbalances, this being possible through the existence of a high level of economic development. Through this paper, we want to identify the evolution of the nominal convergence criteria established by the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty to identify the level of readiness of the Romanian economy for integration into the Economic and Monetary Union.

The Evolution of Inflation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The starting point in the design of this article was the analysis of the evolution of inflation in Romania in the context of the existence and development of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation is considered in the current context as the most harmful phenomenon in contemporary economies. The concept of inflation has been strongly developed over time by various economists and specialists, who tried to outline a definition as concrete as possible, to explain the causes that determine this phenomenon and the impact it has on both population and economic agents. The topicality of the article and the motivation for choosing this topic is the analysis of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the main macroeconomic indicators, more precisely on inflation. At the same time, in this context, the aim of this paper was to reach and highlight the most important issues related to inflation, which were found in specialized economic, monetary and social studies. The effects of the inflationary phenomenon on the economic system are diverse and can have a positive as well as a negative impact depending on the context. The negative effects that can be identified from an economic point of view are the increase in the opportunity cost in terms of holding financial resources, the uncertainty of the level of future inflation that can lead to the discouragement of investments, but also savings. As for the positive effects, they can be represented by encouraging investment in various non-monetary capital projects, as well as ensuring that central banks have the opportunity to adjust real interest rates according to the inflation rate.