The Baltics And Bulgaria

Considers seventy House Concurrent Resolutions relating to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, including the political and cultural repression of ethnic minorities.

The paper examines labor market developments in the four hard-peg European Union (EU) accession candidates during transition, with a view toward understanding the persistent high unemployment experienced in each country. Despite the significant levels of unemployment in all four countries, labor market developments suggest that the strongest and earliest reformers have had the best labor market performance as well. It is crucial that all four countries continue their policies aimed at encouraging investment and job creation. Accession to the EU will present challenges to labor markets.

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

The changing dynamics in the European region and beyond, the unfolding political-economic challenges across the European Union, and the rising global power of emerging economic powers require knowledge, skills, and methodological platforms inducing strategies and operations in the new and ever-changing business landscape. Geo-Regional Competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic Countries, and Russia seeks to address East Central Europe’s (ECE), the Baltics’, and Russia’s increasingly important roles as emerging markets and competitive economic players in the European region. This premier reference work is designated for scholars, professionals, government agencies, think tanks, and other individuals, organizations, and institutions interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the geo-regional strategic business dynamics and landscape involving ECE, the Baltics, and Russia.

This book explains why governments respond differently to macroeconomic problems and why necessary reforms are sometimes delayed until a serious financial crisis erupts. It argues that voter vulnerability to different reform strategies varies, and that these vulnerabilities influence the type and timing of governments' policy responses to economic crises. Empirical analyses at both the individual level across a broad range of countries and case studies of national policy responses to financial and economic crises in Asia and Eastern Europe support the argument.