The academic world says that the divorce between economists and politicians became visible during the financial crisis that began in 2008, when the economists were criticised for failing to preview the crisis, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, for the slowness in accompanying the solutions to remedy the crisis which should have been suggested by the politicians in an emergency situation, of financial collapse. The divorce itself has been lasting for a long time with the relationship deteriorating for many other reasons. In the background there is (1) an elite of Nobel prize winning economists with permanent training and inclination towards research and results worthy of consideration, and (2) a political class in a quasi-constant professional decline. It is a worrying fact, also publicly acknowledged. The 21st century, which marks the greatest technological advance of the fourth industrial revolution, started with avatars coming seemingly from nowhere. Yet, this century which began with so much hope, brings us in the face of yet another break between science and practice. The phenomenon we refer to in the current study is just a small part of what it should have been the collaboration between politicians and science in general, but the specifics of the divorce we approach in this essay is the fact that it deepens.

The book contains researchers' scientific opinions and ideas focused on Romanian Academy Strategy 2020. The authors discuss for example the sustainable development, natural resources, smart development and human capital. They consider economic structures, trends and possible responses to globalisation and European integration challenges.

In the health field, quality is a complex and multidimensional variable. The complexity is shown by different levels of quality, which provide a global picture of the performance of a health system: compliance with mandatory rules, compliance with professional recommendations/references, action of steady improvement aiming at resolving health problems, risk management or excellence seeking, etc. The multidimensional character is provided by various dimensions to be covered by evaluation indicators of the performance of a health system: acceptability in what points the health system meets our expectations; accessibility knowing whether we can receive the services where and when we need them; adequacy knowing whether the care meets our needs and is based on established rules; competence knowing whether knowledge and skills of health services providers are consistent with the care they provide; continuity matching services - coordination, integration, easy access; effectiveness concerning the services in operation and in what point they influence our health; efficiency achieving best results at the lowest cost; security minimizing possible risks in a health area or service. Out of these dimensions - which, from a synergetic perspective, define the overall performance of a health system - we retain for a detailed analysis only those concerning acceptability, adequacy and competence, which determine the responsiveness to the patients' expectations. Moreover, for working out a methodology for assessing the quality of health services, it is necessary to analyse various standard procedures for assessing the performance of health services initiated and rendered by international organisations and promoted, first of all, by the World Health Organisation. Our paper also deals with actions already taken worldwide, which now are undergoing structural improvements as well as with opportunities for making market surveys (opinion polls) among the beneficiaries of a health system: the citizens.