The book addresses three basic questions that relate to recession, recovery and reform in the European countries which made the transition from command to market economies: (i) Did the transition from a command to a market economy and the period when it took place, plant the seeds of vulnerability that made transition countries in Europe and Central Asia more prone to crisis than other countries on comparable levels of development?; (ii) Did choices made on the road from plan to market shape the ability of affected countries to recover from the present financial crisis?; (iii) What structural reforms do former transition countries need to undertake to address the most binding constraints to growth in a world where financial markets have become more discriminating and where capital flows to former transition countries could well be considerably lower than before the crisis?

In the first session, one of the main authors, Juan Zalduendo, Lead Economist, Office of the Chief Economist in ECA Region, World Bank, will present some of the analysis and main conclusions of the book. In the second session, a panel of experts who have been actively involved in Romania’s reform processes over the last twenty years, will relate these questions to the Romanian economy, they will distill lessons learnt and propose future adjustment paths. The panel will also address the need for good governance, the appropriateness of institutions for the Romanian reform process, and the impact of the reforms on social policy and social change over the last twenty years.

 

For details please see our website

http://www.worldbank.org.ro.

The book can be found on the World Bank website and downloaded at

http://go.worldbank.org/VOG920WKR0.