CÍMLAP
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CONTENTS,INTRODUCTION |
Contents
Introduction
Historical antecedents
The period before World War I
The period between the two World Wars
The period following World War II; Transition - Cherishing illusions
Decades of socialism in Hungary
The system of classical socialism
The beginning of the so called "long" reform era (1968-1973)
The world economic crisis of the 1970s - the decline of socialism
Growth in crisis (1973-1978)
Seven lean years (1979-1985)
Stimulation and resolution (1985-1989)
Government expenditure in socialist Hungary
Government expenditure in classical socialism
Government expenditure in market socialism
The roots of the premature welfare state
The change of system and transition in Hungary
Historical conclusions
Transitional illusions
Transformational crisis - instead of a social market economy
Government expenditure at the end of the 1990s
The change of the political system and continuity
Traditional 'growth' crisis - extraordinary stabilisation
Fading chances for sustainable growth
A 'post-Keynesian' turn - inwards
The state within a state(budget) - and outside it
A decreasing 'welfare' state - increasing tensions
Monetary policy - with question marks
After a 'post-Keynesian', a 'post-socialist' economic policy as well
What can be learnt from history and what cannot
Hungary's freedom of action
Catching up and joining
Hungary and the European Union
The present is the future of the past
Bibliography
Introduction
We cannot complain about the uneventfulness of economy, society and
politics in Hungary in past years - we have lived through some
exceptionally interesting times. New problems, and challenges have emerged
in an expanded world on a daily basis. We are generally prone to analyse
most problems in the short run in terms of days, months, years, election
cycles, crises and booms.
About 15 years have passed since the end of the 1980s, the beginning of the
change of system. This period may cause us to stop for a moment and think
over where we have come from and which direction Hungary is heading for.
How this period is connected with the past, and perhaps what is even more
important, what we can learn or could have learnt from history and the
recent historic era. This study - from a personal standpoint - attempts
to do this.
It has become particularly appropriate to look back now, because while
at the beginning of this period, in 1989, preparations for the first
democratic elections were in progress, signalling great changes, now
Hungary is going to start a new chapter in its national history as a member
of a broader political-economic union - the European Union, from May 2004.
Nobody can predict what that new life is going to be like, or how
new it will really be, but it is certainly worth pondering on.