The road to economic disaster in Bulgaria

Economic Performance and Regime Legitimacy in Post-Communist Bulgaria

“…Bulgarians have suffered many hardships and deprivations ever since the Bulgarian economy embarked upon the road to market reforms. By nearly every macroeconomic standard, Bulgaria is in a worse shape now than in the pre‐transition past (see Minassian, 1998). The short‐term effects of market‐oriented reforms have been economic stagnation, inflation, unemployment, increasing inequality of incomes, widespread impoverishment and even malnutrition.…”

Out with the Old, In with the New: The Challenge of Asserting Democratic Control of the Armed Forces in Bulgaria

“…Between 1989 and 1993, there had been a drop in GDP of 27.7 per cent and the country's trade balance had been constantly negative from 1981 till 1994. 10 Economic decline was due in part to the affects of stagnation pre-1989 and, subsequently, the general dif culties of transition. Bulgaria was, however, also deeply affected by the restrictions on trade with the countries of the former Yugoslavia.…”

Public Administration Reform in Eastern Europe: A Research Note and a Look at Bulgaria

“…238-239, 244). By 1997 the annual inflation rate was 24,000%, the average minimum wage for public employees was $4 per month, and Bulgarians faced food shortages (Tanev, 2001); at least one scholar warned of the oncoming economic disaster in Bulgaria (Minassian, 1998).…”

“…This transition government lasted only 3 months, but put into motion several fundamental reforms that had immediate impacts on the economy (Tanev, 2001). The most important of these reforms was the construction of a currency board that tied the Bulgarian Leva to the German DM and imposed strict anti-inflationary policies on the economy (Minassian, 1998). Administrative reforms were allowed to proceed after economic calm was restored the nation.…”

“…Others from the field of transitology contended that the transition from authoritarianism in Latin America and Southern Europe could provide lessons for development in Eastern Europe (Schmitter & Karl, 1994;Przeworski, 1991). But, despite the advice, many transition problems persist, such as corruption (Krastev, 2002), weak economic development (Minassian, 1998), unacceptable wage and income disparities (Haynes & Husan, 2002), and political instability (International Commission on the Balkans, 2005).…”