To fight inflation, European Central Bank (ECB) announced 10 successive interest rate hikes, starting on 27 July 2022, igniting an unprecedented widening of interest rate spreads in the euro area (ΕΑ). Greek banks, however, recorded among the highest interest rate spreads, far exceeding ΕΑ median and weighted average. Indeed, we document a strong asymmetric response of Greek banks to ECB interest rate hikes, with loan interest rates rising immediately, whilst deposit interest rates remained initially unchanged and then rose sluggishly. As a result, the interest rate spread hit one historical record after another. Greek systemic banks, probably taking advantage of the high concentration and low competition in the domestic sector benefited from key ECB interest rate hikes, recording gigantic increases in net interest income (NII), and consequently, substantial profits (almost €7.4 billion in the 2022–2023 biennium). Such excessive accumulation of profits (that deteriorates the living conditions of consumers) by the banking system could be called the inflation of “banking greed”, or bankflation. This new source of inflation created by the oligopolistic structure of the Greek banking sector counterworks the very reason for ECB interest rate increases and requires certain policy analysis recommendations in coping with it.

Urbanization process affects global socio-economic development. Originally tied to modernization and industrialization, current urbanization policy is focused on productivity, economic activities, and environmental sustainability. This study examines impact of urbanization in various regions of Kazakhstan, focusing on environmental, social, labor, industrial, and economic indicators. The study aims to assess how different indicators influence urbanization trends in Kazakhstan, particularly regarding environmental emissions and pollution. It delves into regional development patterns and identifies key contributing factors. The research methodology is based on classical economic theories of urbanization and modern interpretations emphasizing sustainability and socio-economic impacts and includes two stages. Shannon entropy measures diversity and uncertainty in urbanization indicators, while cluster analysis identifies regional patterns. Data from 2010 to 2022 for 17 regions forms the basis of analysis. Regions are categorized into groups based on urbanization levels leaders, challenged, stable, and outliers. This classification reveals disparities in urban development and its impacts. Findings stress the importance of integrating environmental and social considerations into urban planning and policies. Targeted interventions based on regional characteristics and urbanization levels are recommended to enhance sustainability and socio-economic outcomes. Tailored urban policies accommodating specific regional needs are crucial. Effective management and policy-making demand a nuanced understanding of these impacts, emphasizing region-specific strategies over a uniform approach.

Based on the collective forest with common use rights, the social-ecological system analysis framework and autonomous governance theory proposed by Elinor Ostrom are introduced in the forest eco-economic system to analyze the interaction logic among the first-level subsystems and the secondary variables of the forest eco-economic system and the variables related to the autonomous governance of the system to explore the synergistic mechanisms affecting the forest eco-economic system. The results show that: in the case of information asymmetry, collective actions of governmental and non-governmental organizations will aggravate the dilemma of forest eco-economic synergistic development; actors extract forest resource units from the forest resource system to achieve economic benefits; and renewable resources of forest ecosystems can be sustained in the long term when the average extraction rate of humans from forest ecosystems does not exceed the average replenishment rate.

This research analyzes the relationship between political stability, renewable energy utilization, economic progress, and tourism in Indonesia from 1990 to 2020. We employ advanced econometric techniques, including the Fourier Bootstrap Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach and Fourier Toda-Yamamoto causality testing, to ensure the robustness of our results while accounting for smooth structural changes in the data. The analysis uncovers a long-term equilibrium relationship between tourism and its fundamental determinants. Our research reveals significant positive impacts of political stability and renewable energy consumption on tourism in Indonesia. A stable political environment creates a favorable climate for tourism development, instilling confidence in both domestic and international tourists. Promoting renewable energy usage aligns with sustainable tourism practices, attracting environmentally conscious travelers. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate a bi-directional causal relationship between these variables over time. Changes in political stability, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth profoundly influence the tourism sector, while the growth of tourism itself can also stimulate economic development and foster political stability. Our findings underscore the need for environmentally sustainable and politically stable tourism policies. Indonesia’s tourism sector can grow sustainably with renewable energy and stability. Policymakers can develop strategies with tourism, political stability, renewable energy, and economic prosperity in mind.

The use of porous media to simplify the thermohydraulic of a nuclear reactor is the topic of recent research. As a case study, the rector of 200 kW installed at Missouri University of Science and Technology is modeled in this paper. To help this objective, a fundamental CFD examination was completed to supplement the neutronics investigation on the present reactor. Characteristics of thermal energy removal from a typical research reactor are modeled by numerical thermal transport in porous media. The neutron flux is modeled by the nodal expansion method. For the thermo-hydraulic part, a three-dimensional governing equation is solved by an iterative method to find the steady-state solution of fluid flow and temperature in loss of coolant condition where the heat produced in the reactor core is removed by free convection. The profiles of heat flux for various power levels are benchmarked. Pressure, temperature, and velocity contours in the power passage were assessed at 300 kW and 500 kW power levels. To reduce the computational cost, a porous media approach for the whole geometry was utilized. The numerical results agree with the experimental results. The developed model can be used for safety and reliability analysis for various loss of coolant accidents.