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and Business. Caring about the high level of the content of our publications, we publish only the manuscripts which have received two positive reviews under the "peer review" procedure, after initial verification done by the Editorial Committee. The articles published within REF are available online in English and in an open mode.REF focuses on two science disciplines: economics and finance. Within the former area it touches mainly upon such issues as: micro and macroeconomic policy, analysis of goals, instruments and models of socio-economic and sector policies, public sector analysis, conception of development and cyclic nature of the economy, principle of market functioning, research within the area of international economics, spatial economics, studies of the history of economic thought and the history of the economy. As regards the area of finance, we focus on such issues as: research on the phenomena and processes which take place in the economy, connected with the financial sphere, analysis of the reasons and consequences of capital flows, identifying the motifs and criteria for taking economic decisions, assessment of the investment process risk, assessment of financial markets functioning, analysis of redistribution of financial resources, taking into consideration the tax system.REF is a quarterly journal, with the first issue containing six research articles. Let us bring you closer to the outcomes of the works presented in volume 1.The article entitled The Impact of Monetary Policy Announcements on Stock Market Index in Poland by H. Kołodziejczyk examines whether the NBP's announcements have an impact on either stock returns or volatility and whether the content of such communiqué (either interest rate cut or raise) matters. The results suggest that, in fact, interest rate changes do have a significant impact on both returns and volatility. However, the reactions to news are different with respect to the type of announcement.The article entitled Exchange rate volatility and trade: the case of Ukraine by O. Popova, J. Jablinski and T.M. Lukashenko concerns the subject matter of the exchange rate volatility and its influence on international trade on the basis of Ukraine. Even if there has not been any significant visible correlation between trade and the exchange rate volatility, it does not mean that there is no relationship between these two factors, because there are a lot of factors which affect the level of trade.The article entitled Potential fiscal and non-fiscal consequences of introducing a poll tax in Poland by E. Małecka-Ziembińska and Ł. Ziębakowski verifies the claims made by the supporters of the introduction of a poll tax in Poland in relation to its amount. The poll tax would not gain acceptance in Poland nowadays. Potential consequences of this change must be considered not only in the fiscal, but above all -social context. The rates of the poll tax assessed on the basis of the concept of its followers are regressive. This is a disqualifying factor of this tribute, because it would bri...