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Good and evil impact all lives. The spiritual realm is explored in many cultures. For persons of Caribbean and Hispanic descent, health and well-being coexist between three realms; heaven, earth, and hell. The coexistence of realms of the natural world and the spiritual world has been a question of debate for centuries. Whether believed to be a fact or fiction, these realms impact the lives of those who believe. Hence, respectfully, one must listen with their eyes open to the stories of others. Especially of those who need healing. Espiritismo explores the spiritual realms and examines that which represents the holy and pure, as well as the tainted and evil.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to scientifically test the credibility (proof or refutation) of the existing argument for a technological leap in the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic period.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The conducted review of existing sources of research literature showed that they have formed an insufficient scientific background for a clear understanding of digital deprivation of services, social contradictions and conflict management as components of technological leap amid the COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic period. To fill the identified gap in the system of scientific knowledge, this work uses the method of comparative analysis of statistical data. Some countries of the world, the EU countries and the United States, which are characterized by the largest population and the largest contribution of investments to the digitalization of value chains and the development of innovations, were selected as objects for this study.

Findings: Research has shown that rapid digitalization is impacting all aspects of life, including not only how value is created and exchanged, but also how we interact, operate, purchase and receive services. In this process, data and its international flows are becoming increasingly important for development. The usual digital gap associated with connectivity, reflecting significant differences between and within countries in readiness to use the power of data, is exacerbated by what might be termed the data gap. Countries with limited opportunities to transform digital data into digital analytics and entrepreneurial opportunities, and to use them for economic and social development, are obviously at a disadvantage.

Originality/Value: Digital data have been proven to be one of the top strategic assets for creating both private and public value. Our ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015) depends a lot on how these data are applied. The idea of sustainable development arose, as it is known, for overcoming significant fluctuations in the positive transformation of society, and for the alignment in the pace and results of the transition of various countries to the post-industrial scenario of progress. There are many obstacles on the path of sustainable development, which hinder the transition to this vector of transformation. First, the gap in economic and social development between the countries of the ‘golden billion’ and many other countries has not been reduced. Second, the digital gap continues to deepen. But a new and extremely threatening danger on the path to the transition to sustainable development has become the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in early 2020 and is still ongoing.

Determining the right course for the future is a difficult task, but its solution cannot be postponed. Data are multidimensional, and their use has an impact not only on trade and economic development but also on human rights, peace and security. In addition, measures should be taken to reduce the risk of misuse and unauthorized use of digital data by states, non-states or the private sectors to avoid the possibility of global social conflict.

Relying on a new dataset, this paper examines the genesis of current account fluctuations and the investment cycle in Italy. We perform a Granger causality test that shows that the persistent current account deficits in the years from unification to World War I were generated by variations in capital inflows, as hypothesized by Fenoaltea, and not by the dynamics of GDP, as in the Bonelli–Cafagna model. Finally, we show that these capital inflows prompted an industrial investment cycle in equipment and machinery but not – as claimed by Fenoaltea (1988) – a general investment cycle which included also construction and more volatile components of investment. These patterns held under both fixed and floating exchange rate regimes.

Purpose: The paper aims to explore gender conflict as a factor of global technological inequality from a modelling and conflict management perspective through an analysis of women’s participation in science.

Design/methodology/approach: A review of the existing research literature has shown that there is an insufficient scientific basis for identifying the extent of gender conflict as a factor of global technological inequality through an analysis of women’s participation in science. Statistical data analysis is used to fill the identified gap in the scientific knowledge system. The countries chosen for study are those with the largest gender gaps and technological inequalities in terms of women’s participation in science and knowledge-intensive industries as well as in R&D.

Findings: The chapter reviews the factors that make the case, from an academic perspective, for the technological inequalities and gender gaps in the world leading to global employment conflict. The field of education encompasses numerous interrelated aspects, ranging from the level of demand and supply of educational opportunities to the access and delivery of education. These aspects also relate to the quality of teaching and the learning process, the effectiveness of the education system, individual learning outcomes, and the impact of education on the development and well-being of the individual, the community and the country as a whole. Scientific researchers make an important contribution to improving the quality of the education system: scientific research produces new knowledge further implemented through the education system. Such knowledge can improve people’s lives. Research is often carried out in universities, but also in the commercial sector, particularly in high-tech companies (Research and Development).

Originality/value: Education has been proven to be one of the resources that provide people with equal opportunities in life. Integrating a gender perspective into education includes assessing and promoting gender equality in learning opportunities available to men and women throughout their lives, especially during compulsory education. The gender approach also includes assessing the fairness of the delivery of educational services (such as training, management and course content).

This chapter examines spillover effects of global monetary shocks on lending by foreign banks in an emerging country, South Korea. Foreign banks play a significant role by providing additional domestic credit and foreign currency liquidity and directing international capital flows via the banking sector. Using macroeconomic and banking data for the period of 2000Q1–2016Q2, the authors present evidence that foreign bank branches in Korea have responded in providing their foreign currency loans with one-quarter (three months) time lag to changes in monetary policies in their home countries (mainly, the United States and the Euro area). This short-run spillover effect of monetary policy shocks from the home countries to foreign banks in Korea seems consistent with the main findings from our bank-level data analysis. This chapter also discusses useful policy implications.