Introduction to ‘Transition Economies after the Crisis of 2008 : Actors and Policies’

The economic crisis of 2008, starting from the crisis in banking in the USA in 2008, affected economic and political development in varied ways around the world. This special issue covers the impact and policy responses in the former state socialist countries of central and eastern Europe and the CIS. Taken as a whole, the economies of the former state socialist countries – frequently still referred to for convenience as transition economies – were hit hard by the crisis, suffering falls in GDP in 2009 that were deeper than the average around the world.However, there was considerable variety in the effects on individual countries, with a few continuing to grow while some others suffered quite exceptional falls in output. Policy responses were also quite diverse and do not obviously fit with the nature and severity of economic factors. The more general impacts on political life were also varied. In many cases very much the same governments continued in power, while in others there were significant changes and signs of a growing instability in party and political structures.The articles in this issue aim to explore these differences between countries and to set them in a wider international context