2024. Vol. 25. No. 4

At the beginning of his article “The Crisis of the Tax State”, published in 1918, Joseph Schumpeter poses an important question: will the economic structure of Western states withstand the burden of war, or does it need to be transformed so that something new can emerge? According to the author, this question is typically discussed from the perspective of three future alternatives: the collapse of the capitalist system, the expansion of economic freedoms, and the emergence of an administrative economy. However, Schumpeter believes that the First World War exposed a more fundamental crisis in modern societies rather than being its cause, at the heart of which lies the failure of the tax state. For a true understanding of this crisis, a sociological perspective is necessary—namely, fiscal sociology—which considers financial history as an integral part of a people's history. Finances serve as one of the starting points for studying the social mechanism. In this context, the author suggests seeking answers to the following questions: What does “the failure of the tax state” mean? What is its essence? How did it arise? What social processes underlie the superficial facts expressed by budget figures?
The Journal of Economic Sociology publishes an excerpt from Schumpeter's work “The Crisis of the Tax State,” which reveals the nature and boundaries of the tax state.

National pride is recognized as a crucial factor in shaping individual behaviors that align with governmental expectations. This study investigates the question: why do some citizens exhibit greater pride in their country than others? Are the sources of national pride distinct among different groups? To explore these questions, the author analyzed data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey. The article emphasizes the influence of news content and perceptions of war threats on overall national pride.The author draws upon concepts such as the authoritarian public sphere, the “rally around the flag” phenomenon, and social dominance theory. Through regression analysis, it was determined that viewing television news positively correlates with increased levels of patriotism. The study posits that citizens' concerns about external threats amplify their sense of national pride. However, it is noted that content from social media platforms had a statistically insignificant impact on this relationship.The research highlights several statistically significant determinants at a 10% level: 1) accessing news content online is associated with a decrease in national pride; 2) older citizens tend to express higher levels of patriotism. The findings reveal that the general level of national pride among ethnic minorities in Russia surpasses that of ethnic Russians.

The article explores the factors influencing youth involvement in deviant behavior, taking into account the socio-economic development of various regions. The tendency towards deviant behaviors remains significant for societal development, causing harm to quality of life and well-being, while suppressing social and economic opportunities. Understanding the interdisciplinary and regional context may enhance the effectiveness of government programs aimed at scientifically based prevention and correction of youth deviant behavior.
The study materials include research articles on deviance, official crime statistics, and socio-demographic issues from 2018 to 2023, as well as indicators of socio-economic development in Russian regions. These indicators encompass income levels, population statistics, economic inequality, quality of life, and commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Descriptive statistics, text analysis, structural equation modeling, correlation analysis, factor analysis, and regression analysis methods were employed for data processing and analysis.
The research results revealed the complex economic causality of youth deviant behavior, which may arise from neglecting social and regional factors. While poverty is a significant contributor to deviance, its negative impact can be mitigated through involvement in social institutions and support networks. Conversely, crime as a form of deviance—particularly prevalent in regions with high economic prosperity— correlates with other forms of deviant behavior such as alcohol use. Notably, drug-related youth crimes are also high in these economically prosperous areas. In contrast, extremist and terrorist crimes are more common in regions with low socio-economic development where alcohol and smoking consumption is less prevalent.
Overall, factors such as population size, quality of life, and commitment to a healthy lifestyle demonstrate higher statistical significance than economic inequality and income level as direct causes of deviant behavior among Russian youth.

Highly qualified personnel are the most important resource for modern economic development. This paper offers an interpretation of the term “talentism” in the context of the state's attitude towards talented specialists in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Using examples of personnel policy in the cities of the Greater Bay Area of South China, the article examines areas and examples of working with outstanding personnel, namely mechanisms for attracting and retaining talented employees in the region. It studies the practical implementation of personnel management theory with Chinese characteristics. An analysis of scientific literature, government plans, and reports from 2004 to 2024 has enabled the systematization of accumulated experiences regarding labor force support measures, particularly in the context of integration processes occurring in the region. In particular, the following directions of talentism, which foster positive trends in working with talents in the Greater Bay Area, have been identified: development and implementation of local programs based on three- to five-year financing plans; creation of platforms for cooperation among personnel from the three administrative parts of the area, promoting active educational integration; increased mobility; expansion of social support measures for talents and their family members, including tax relief and optimization of financial incentive programs; internationalization of personnel, evaluation of specialists' quality and their participation in project assessments, standardization, and mutual recognition of qualifications; creation of a favorable environment for further socio-economic development, along with systematic legalization of these processes. The results obtained also indicate negative aspects in working with talents in the Greater Bay Area. These include insufficient coordination between local structures in implementing abstract goals, an overly formal approach, insufficient specification of tasks, and a focus on short-term benefits without integrating talents into teamwork for the long term. Considering China's experience will aid in organizing work with outstanding personnel in Russia to realize their potential in various regions.

Today, the work of highly qualified professionals, once considered “good,” is becoming more intense and less safe. White-collar workers are forced to work more and remain constantly connected. Such an overload has a number of negative consequences for both workers (deterioration of health, subjective well-being, burnout, and a desire to quit mixed with the fear of losing a job) and for companies (high staff turnover, decay of the atmosphere in teams, decreased creative potential of employees, and diminished competitiveness of the company).
The book written by Professor of Management E. Kelly and Professor of Sociology P. Moen, titled Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What We Can Do About It, describes the results of a five-year experiment on the implementation of the STAR program (Support. Transform. Achieve. Results) in one large American IT corporation. STAR focused on implementing new organizational principles aimed at increasing flexibility in work schedules and granting freedom in deciding task priorities, locations, and methods of accomplishment. According to the results of the experiment, objective indicators of corporate competitiveness did not change due to organizational innovations, and the time spent on completing work tasks remained approximately the same. At the same time, employees became more engaged, focused, and sociable while reporting higher levels of productivity. This was true for both women and men. However, despite all the positive results from the STAR project’s implementation for developers, managers, and the corporation as a whole, the researchers' book ends pessimistically: the experiment did not last long. After the merger of the IT corporation with another, more conservative firm, the STAR program was curtailed. Why did this happen? What explanations do managers and sociologists offer regarding the merged IT corporation's refusal to follow scientifically proven positive practices for creating conditions that allow flexible work organization for their employees? Were the changes truly beneficial? As is often said, all good things must come to an end eventually. Or did the STAR project have shortcomings? This book review is partly devoted to an attempt to answer these questions.

In his book Pavel Usanov argues that the U.S. economy became the world’s largest because the ideas and institutions of Americans were libertarian. However, the government expansions during crises are never fully retracted, leading to a gradual increase in state involvement. The author contends that this growth in government size presents American society with a critical choice: either fundamentally restructure its political system or slide into an all-powerful government and socialism. This review examines the roles of free markets and economic policy in U.S. economic development, drawing on two centuries of macroeconomic history and new economic-historical data. Contrary to the author’s conclusions, I demonstrate that the significant expansion of the public sector in the US did not hinder economic dynamism. In fact, technological progress was most rapid during the “statist” period of 1928–1950. The high average growth rates during this time largely account for the GDP gap between the U.S. and other advanced economies. The review critically assesses the proposed explanations of key events in U.S. economic history, including pre-Civil War financial crises, the economic factors behind the Civil War, the Southern slave economy, late 19th-century protectionism, the causes of the Great Depression, and assessments of Americans’ welfare during World War II. I propose an alternative framework for a libertarian economic history of the US as a history of individual and collective rationality in markets and politics.

This paper explores the adoption process of the digital ruble among Russian entrepreneurs. The digital ruble, as a new currency, will be a direct liability of the Central Bank of Russia and will be technologically and informationally centralized around it. One of its significant features is its potential to diminish the role of private banks in the Russian financial system while increasing transaction transparency. To identify the mechanisms and incentives for adopting the digital ruble, we conducted twelve semi-structured interviews with small business owners in Russia who have experience with various payment systems. Our empirical findings reveal three main adoption mechanisms: choice, enforcement, and social network effects. The choice mechanism involves voluntary adoption based on the digital ruble’s perceived advantages, such as lower transaction costs and greater convenience compared to other payment systems. The enforcement mechanism reflects the influence of direct incentives or mandates from monetary authorities, such as legal requirements or wage policies. Social network effects describe the impact of a critical mass of users, which indirectly encourages entrepreneurs who might otherwise be hesitant to adopt the digital ruble. We contribute to the sociological literature by identifying and structuring these adoption mechanisms, bridging gaps between different theoretical perspectives. From a policy-making standpoint, we analyze the positive and negative aspects of the digital ruble and discuss its potential role in the Russian economy. We conclude by considering how digital monetary advancements, including central bank digital currencies like the digital ruble and cryptocurrencies, could influence trust in money and monetary concepts, posing new challenges for the social sciences.