Exchange Rate Policy and Economic Growth after the Financial Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe

In a paper on the effects of the global financial crisis in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), a European Union economist reacts to a companion paper (Åslund, 2001) published in the same issue of Eurasian Geography and Economics on the influence of exchange rate policies on the region's recovery. The author argues that post-crisis corrections in current account deficits in CEE countries do not in themselves signal a return to steady economic growth. Disagreeing with Åslund over the role of loose monetary policy in fostering the region's economic problems, he outlines a number of competitiveness problems that remain to be addressed in the 10 new EU member states of CEE, along with improvements in framework conditions supporting future macroeconomic growth.     

The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe

Sherzer, Joel. Verbal Art in San Blas: Kuna Culture through Its Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. x + 281 pp. including references and index. $39.50 cloth.

Heider, Karl G. Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. x + 154 pp. including bibliography and index. $28.00 cloth, $9.95 paper.     

The chronology of Neolithic dispersal in Central and Eastern Europe

We analyze statistically representative samples of radiocarbon dates from key Early Neolithic sites in Central Europe belonging to the Linear Pottery Ceramic Culture (LBK), and of pottery-bearing cultures on East European Plain (Yelshanian, Rakushechnyi Yar, Buh-Dniestrian, Serteya and boreal East European Plain). The dates from the LBK sites form a statistically homogeneous set with the probability distribution similar to a single-date Gaussian curve. This implies that the duration of the spread of the LBK is shorter than the available temporal resolution of the radiocarbon dating; therefore, the rate of spread must be larger than 4 km/yr, in agreement with earlier estimates. The East European sites exhibit a broad probability distribution of dates. We identify in these data a spatio-temporal sequence from south-east to north-west, which implies the rate of spread of the initial pottery-making of the order of 1.6 km/yr, comparable to the average rate of spread of the Neolithic in Western and Central Europe. We argue that this spatio-temporal sequence is consistent with an idea that the tradition of the initial pottery-making on East European Plain developed under an early impulse from the Eastern Steppe.     

Exchange Rate Policy and the Central and East European Financial Crisis

A prominent specialist on economic developments in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries examines the ways in which the global financial crisis of 2008-2010 has impacted the economies of the 10 new eastern member states of the European Union (CEE-10). The author assesses the multiple preconditions of the crisis (e.g., excessive current account deficits, large foreign debt, inadequate currency reserves, immense credit expansion, rising inflation and real estate prices) as well as the rapid financial adjustments that had to be undertaken to overcome it (e.g., current account rebalancing, reducing budget deficits, pension and fiscal reform). He devotes considerable attention to the key issue of how the differences in exchange rate policies in these countries affected their abilities to respond to the crisis and outlines measures that should be implemented to enhance the crisis management capability of non-eurozone states relying on currency boards or floating exchange rates.     

The Dynamics of Regional Disparities in Central and Eastern Europe during Transition

This paper examines the evolution of territorial imbalances in per capita income in the Central and Eastern Europe regions between 1990 and 2001. In order to overcome the limitations of conventional convergence analysis, we have combined a non-parametric approach that allows us to study the dynamics of the entire cross-section distribution, with a series of theoretical results and measures taken from the literature on personal income distribution. The results obtained show an overall reduction in regional inequality over the study period. This process has been compatible with the simultaneous presence of between-country convergence and within-country divergence. Likewise, we have observed a reduction in the development gap between the sample regions and Western Europe. In any event, the polarization of the distribution under consideration has decreased, while the registered level of intra-distribution mobility is relatively low. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the important role played in explaining the distribution dynamics by factors such as the national component, spatial location, productive structure, agglomeration economies and the percentage of gross domestic product devoted to investment.     

国际金融危机对世界国际旅游业发展的影响研究

国际金融危机对世界国际旅游业影响的传导机制是什么？对其影响进行科学分析与预测的指标是什么？其影响的状况与特点是什么？其影响的趋势及我国的对策又是什么？本文运用国际经济学与旅游经济学原理,收集分析世界经济与世界国际旅游业发展的统计资料,对具有代表性的旅行社、旅游饭店与旅游景区点进行调查研究,同时对我国国际化程度最高的世界著名旅游城市香港进行比较研究,从而回答上述问题。本文的主要内容包括：（1）国际金融危机对世界国际旅游业发展影响的传导机制与分析预测指标的构建与验证;（2）国际金融危机对世界国际旅游业发展影响的现状、特征与趋势,以及我国的对策研究。     

The Impact of Global Financial Crisis on the Mechanism of Economic Growth in Russia

A noted specialist on the Russian economy presents an assessment of the impact of the global financial crisis on the mechanism of the country's economic growth. Focusing on the demand side of the economic ledger, the author explores the question of whether Russia will be able to re-attain the high economic growth rates of the period from 2000 to 2007 after recovering from the crisis. The paper analyzes the sharp drop in production in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, attributing most of the damage to liquidity problems and declines in the price of oil. Empirical evidence is based primarily on data collected by the author from the Central Bank of Russia and the country's federal bureau of statistics (Rosstat). Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E010, E200, E660, F210, G010. 11 figures, 3 tables, 29 references.     

国际金融危机影响及中国旅游饭店的经营策略

如何在正确认识国际金融危机对世界经济、世界旅游市场、我国经济、我国旅游市场和我国旅游饭店影响基础上,借鉴国际旅馆的经营策略,说明我国饭店的经营策略,这是当前我国旅游业发展的一个重要课题。本文据此命题,运用统计数据与典型样本分析,讨论阐明下列问题：（1）世界经济发展的主要趋势;（2）世界旅游市场发展的主要趋势;（3）国外旅馆的经营策略;（4）中国经济发展的主要趋势;（5）中国旅游市场发展的主要趋势;（6）中国旅游饭店的经营策略。     

Reexamining transport poverty,job access,and gender issues in Central and Eastern Europe

Tirana, the Balkan capital examined in this study, displays patterns of gendered job search behavior and access, which are unique within contemporary Europe and even within post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Here, it is a rather spatially constricted job search range rather than transport poverty that prevents women living in first-ring suburbs from attaining satisfactory employment. Female commutes are extraordinarily short and most often on foot. While the city now has nearly one million inhabitants and a high car ownership rate, and is located in Europe, the employment and mobility choices and behaviors of its female residents resemble those in developing rather than developed countries, and in small rather than large cities. The reasons underpinning this situation have more to do with socio-cultural gender barriers and less with transport poverty or labor market weaknesses. This finding might apply to other Balkan capitals or cities outside Europe, which have recently experienced large waves of internal migration and where both existing residents and newcomers have not yet adjusted to ‘big city’ life.     

Russian Fiscal Federalism under Stress: Federal Support of Regions during the Global Financial Crisis

A former high-ranking Russian Ministry of Finance official examines the consequences of financial support extended to regions by the Russian Federation government during the global financial crisis in 2008-2010, for the purpose of exploring its potential impact on the regions' financial health in 2011-2012. The paper is structured around an analysis of the three major dimensions of that support: (1) legal and administrative actions undertaken at the federal level to reduce financial pressure on the regions; (2) increased issuance of intergovernmental fiscal grants in 2009; and (3) loans granted to the regions from the federal budget. The author argues that the financial crisis has provided a "stress test" that is useful in assessing the efficiency and flexibility of the Russian system of fiscal federalism.     

Nationalism and Empire in Eastern Europe

Jurij Borys. The Sovietization of Ukraine, 1917–1923. The Communist Doctrine and Practice of National Self-Determination. Revised edition. Edmonton: The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1980. Pp. xxii, 488; Vera S. Dunham. In Stalin's Time. Middle-class Values in Soviet Fiction. Introduction by Jerry F. Hough. First paperback edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Pp. xiv, 283; Taras Hunczak, editor. The Ukraine, 1917–1921: A Study in Revolution. Introduction by Richard Pipes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 1977. Pp. viii, 424; Roy Medvedev, The October Revolution. Foreword by Harrison E. Salisbury. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979. Pp. xix, 240; Rosalind Mitchison, editor. The Roots of Nationalism: Studies in Northern Europe. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd., 1980. Pp. vii, 175; Peter J. Potichnyj, editor. Poland and Ukraine, Past and Present. Edmonton: The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1980. Pp. xiv, 365; Edward C. Thaden, editor. Russification in the Baltic Provinces and Finland, 1855–1914. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. Pp. xiii, 497; Anthony F. Upton. The Finnish Revolution, 1917–1918. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1980. Pp. v, 608.     

Nationalism and Imperialism in Eastern Europe

CAROLE ROGEL. The Slovenes and Yugoslavism 1890–1914. Boulder: East European Quarterly, distributed by Columbia University Press, 1977,167 pp., East European Monographs, No. XXIV. ROBERT H. JOHNSTON. Tradition versus Revolution: Russia and the Balkans in 1917. Boulder: East European Quarterly, distributed by Columbia University Press, 1977, 240 pp., East European Monographs, No. XXVIII. ROBERT A. KANN, BÉLA K. KIRÁLY, PAULA s. FICHTNER, eds. The Habsburg Empire in World War i, Essays on the Intellectual, Military, Political and Economic Aspects of the Habsburg War Effort. Boulder: East European Quarterly, distributed by Columbia University Press, 1977, 247 pp., East European Monographs, No. XXIII. LESLIE CHARLES TIHANY. The Baranya Dispute 1918–1921: Diplomacy in the Vortex of Ideologies. Boulder: East European Quarterly, distributed by Columbia University Press, 1978, 138 pp., East European Monographs, No. XXXV.     

Liberalism and cultural claims in Central and Eastern Europe: toward a pluralist balance†

ABSTRACT. This article relies on cases from new EU member states in postcommunist Europe to integrate two overlapping debates about majority–minority relations. Since the Second World War, political theorists and international institutions have tended to discourage group‐rights approaches in favour of individual rights; meanwhile, policy‐makers who achieved interethnic peace in postcommunist Europe have often opted for group‐rights approaches. On the basis of political theory, international norms and the conduct of political elites in this region, we argue that both the individual‐rights and group‐rights approaches can be differentiated internally along the dimension of pluralism – that is, their willingness to accommodate multiple processes of cultural reproduction. Moreover, both group‐rights and individual‐rights approaches can offer justifications for restricting minority cultural opportunities; furthermore, restrictive group‐rights approaches sometimes cloak their efforts behind ‘Western‐sounding’ individual‐rights rhetoric. Likewise, both group‐rights and individual‐rights approaches can permit group accommodation that can lead to political integration. We find that de facto pluralist approaches to minority accommodation – often spearheaded by moderate parties of the majority in coalition with minority‐group parties – encourage ethnic peace, regardless of their foundation in individual or group rights.     

Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe: Its Genesis,Adjustment Process,and Impact on Developing Countries

ABSTRACT Increasing strains on self-sufficiency within the block of East European command economies resulted in the dramatic decision to change over to an economic system largely based on market forces. The painfulness of the ensuing transformation process will be mitigated somewhat by supportive economic policies of the West, including the European Community which is itself aiming at complete economic integration by the end of 1992. The consequences for the developing countries of these far-reaching policy changes in East and West are likely to be negative, at least in the immediate future. This is true for the volume of development assistance given by East and West, as well as for the export prospects of developing countries. Favourable effects might at best be expected in the longer run.