ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses fundamental issues of economic policy and systemic change in the post-1989 period. The research question is if, when, and to what degree the broad institutional and policy changes have managed to boost convergence to western Europe. In eight theses, highlighted as section headings, it attempts to present the big picture. The classical agenda of stabilization, liberalization, institution-building and privatization (SLIP) serves as a red thread in assessing bits and pieces. Issues of long-term path dependency versus impacts of policy choices are discussed. Due to space limitations, country experiences are discussed as illustrations only. In terms of the timeline these years are taken as watersheds: 1989, the Polish round-table talks and the collapse of the Berlin Wall; then 1999, the NATO intervention in Yugoslavia and the Helsinki EU Council on Big Bang enlargement; and finally 2008, the spillover of the global crisis and its management. While 1999–2008 was a period of real convergence, in the post-crisis period it came to a halt in most countries. The final, ninth section explains how this relates to the rise of illiberalism.
