On 15 and 16 July 2013, Christine Lagarde paid a visit to Bucharest. I had the opportunity to exchange a few words with her during the dinner and I listened to her brilliant speech the following day delivered elegantly and relaxed. In contrast with the previous … Citeşte mai departeWhy the IMF had a program in Romania for more than 20 years
Have you ever crossed the border between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus? It’s an unkempt back alley in Nicosia. The situation denotes the failure of EU and UN to restore normality in Cyprus. Respecting the “do not photograph” signs … Citeşte mai departeTo do while waiting for the accession to Schengen
Forbes Romania magazine dedicated a special edition to the touching stories of over 30 Romanian businessmen about their “First Million”, which they obtained primarily due to their “unquestioned intuition and flair”, their “determination to reinvest”, their “courage, curiosity and modesty”, their “confidence”, “medium term market … Citeşte mai departeAre Romanian Capitalists Out of Steam?
My recent article about Iași brought up the topic of “the extraordinary heritage” we had before the Revolution and how “many enterprises were viable” back in the day. The image of the socialist industrial platforms is still in our minds even decades later, in a blend … Citeşte mai departeRemembering the failures of the command economy
The financial crisis that started in 2008 has thrown Europe into the most severe post-war economic recession and emphasized the fundamental weaknesses of national economies, some countries undergoing significant “corrections”. The first wave of corrections (2008 – 2010) generated a decrease in the national productivity … Citeşte mai departeFor Some the Crisis is worse than for others
The lesson that the European Union is teaching Cyprus through the financial assistance program (bail-out), combined with its own efforts (bail-in) and the restructuring of the deposits exceeding €100,000 kept in the Cypriot banks (most of them made by foreign citizens) is a strong blow … Citeşte mai departeThe end of tax havens in the EU?
“Iași praises its heroes and lives from its past”, said, recently, a local high official. “Iași needs to live in the present and build its future, a future of economic development, of attracting investors, technological parks and jobs, a future of well-being for its citizens.” … Citeşte mai departeIasi contributing to Romania’s 21st century
Romania went through 20 years of reforms, some incomplete, some improvised, but the progress is visible and so are its effects. Romanian authorities were assisted in the transition to a market economy by IMF (the IMF agreements covered 15 of the 23 years of capitalism), … Citeşte mai departeRomania is antifragile compared to Cyprus and Greece