The financial crisis strongly affected the countries of the former Soviet Union1 (FSU) in 2008-2009. All of the countries experienced either a recession or a considerable slowdown in growth. Under such conditions, public expenditures on health were at risk of being cut. This brief explores...

Though the global financial crisis hit Russia’s economy harder than many other emerging markets, the situation in both Russia’s real and financial sector stabilized as early as in the first half of 2009. However, the exit strategy chosen by the Russian authorities lacked any specific...

The public debt crisis is not limited to Greece or to the Euro area but includes several developed economies. Thus, suggesting that the Eurozone is undergoing a currency crisis or is in danger of disintegration is not the right diagnosis. However, if prudent fiscal policies, fiscal discipline...

The end of “demographic dividends” as well as the beginning of the current economic and financial crisis placed Russia and Ukraine’s pension reform problems high on the public agenda. Up until now, the countries hesitated to substantially reform their pension systems due to difficulties of...

On December 16th, 2011, an 18 year long negotiation process regarding Russia’s WTO membership was finally brought to an end. Undoubtedly, Russia’s WTO accession is an important event both for the global trade system and for the country. With Russia now in the club, the WTO will...

In the years before the economic crisis, global demand for energy resources rose sharply, especially from developing countries. During the economic crisis, oil demand decreased for a short period. In forecasting post-crisis developments, it is reasonable to assume a future reduction in the...

The U.S. economy’s rapidly growing trade and current account deficits and systematic weakening of the dollar against the Euro and other currencies raised several concerns about its future as the global reserve currency. Skeptics of the U.S.’s enduring economic and political power...

The new European Union (EU) economic governance package released by the European Commission on September 29, 2010 includes two major components, i.e., changes and amendments to the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and new regulation on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances...

The recent decision of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board (Fed) to increase its assets by purchasing $600 billion worth of Treasury bonds is unlikely to boost economic growth or employment prospects in the U.S. Instead, it will cause major damage throughout the world economy, especially in emerging...

So far, developing countries like the countries of the Mediterranean region seem to have been far less affected by the and started to recover earlier crisis than industrial countries. However, the region faces several problems like high unemployment and high inflation in the long term due to...