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It is no surprise that the digital economy (DE) has raised expectations and it is still raising them. The aim of this study is to implement testing which will indicate how much the digital economy can help the less developed countries to overcome the economic lag. In order to come up with an answer, the study is based on provocative hypotheses which will elaborate on the development paradox by which the digital economy cannot help the less developed countries. The argument that supports the main hypothesis of this study declares that GDP growth is not equivalent to the growth of investment in DE infrastructure and, therefore, DE is contributing to the increase in inequality instead of reducing it. The paradox is confirmed with the implementation of the SEM modelling on high-income countries (HIC) and middle-income countries (MIC). Moreover, the study measured, i.e., determined, the relative importance and impact of each DE component on the economic growth in HIC and MIC countries. According to the results of this research, in MIC the most significant DE factor which has an impact on GDP growth is the investment in education, whereas in HIC countries infrastructure has the leading part when it comes to economic growth. The final part of this study includes a proposition of a set of guidelines relating to the direction of public policy development in order to make the most of DE’s impact on the creation of a fairer and better system and society. Due to the comprehensive range of questions that come from this study, several topics for future research have been recommended.

With the aim of improving modern methods for educating economists, the authors in this paper impose the following topics: What do we want to teach students, and do we teach them the right things? How transformative are our fundamental textbook bases to offer the new knowledge that the digital economy imposes? Bearing in mind previous questions, the aim of this paper is to highlight the gap that exists between economic theory and economic practice in terms of insufficient theoretical scope of the digital economy (DE) and its study, and DE’s increasing participation in global practice as an economy based on innovation and new technologies. In the analysis, the authors concentrate on two levels: (1) they analyse the specifics of DE and in that context, they evaluate the applicability of traditional economic theory; (2) they review the representation of DE in university textbooks. Based on the results, the authors conclude that DE possesses specific attributes, and it is necessary to include these as mandatory lessons in university textbooks on the level of basic studies. They suggest some areas for which economic theory should be better explained and supplemented in future research (proposing appropriate guidelines for future efforts in theoretical work). Moreover, through a systematic literature review, the authors approach 90 basic university textbooks in economics and by analysing their content, they prove that DE is not sufficiently represented in them. The results of the paper suggest that economics textbooks, and thus the curricula of basic studies, should be supplemented with chapters on the digital economy, which will affect the modernization and adequacy of theory with practice.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of e-business and the digital economy came to the fore. It is certain that the growth of the digital economy will continue in postCOVID times. This raises many questions and challenges, one of which is especially important – the tendency of monopolisation in the digital market and possible regulation related to it. In this paper, the authors have dealt with this topic by presenting it as paradox: digital giants or ‘Big Tech’, created as start-ups on the waves of a competitive market of equal opportunities, have grown with the general support of consumers because their platforms offer connectivity and a more comfortable and interesting life full of creativity. In the meantime, they have become unstoppable monopolists making users/consumers dependent and subordinate with their privacy endangered. In the paper, the authors reveal the reasons for the monopolisation of the digital market as well as related problems faced by regulators. In addition, they analysed some of the approaches that individual countries are trying to apply, and suggest a possible scenario for how to reach quality and stable solutions for regulation at the global level.