14 January 2019

Seminar: Economic Crisis in Nordic and Baltic Countries

Central Bank of Iceland

Seminar introducing a new book: The Economic Crisis and its Aftermath in the Nordic and Baltic Countries - Do As We Say and Not As We Do.

The seminar will take place at the Central Bank of Iceland on Wednesday 16 January at 15:00 in the meeting room Sölvhóll.

Speaker: Hilmar Þór Hilmarsson, professor at the University of Akureyri.

The seminar will be in English.

Abstract: The Nordic-Baltic region has become highly integrated. The Nordic countries have been successful in balancing competitiveness and economic growth with social inclusiveness, while the Baltic States have grown economically, but remain vulnerable with weak social systems and face large-scale outward migration. European Union (EU) membership and inter-linkages with the continental Nordic banking systems appear to have affected the 2008/09 crisis response of the Baltic States.

It is now a decade since the Baltic States were hit by the global crisis. It is time to take stock of their progress and assess their relations with other countries in the region and with the EU. This book focuses on the Baltics and their Nordic partners pre- and post-crisis: successes, failures, lessons learned, and future challenges, examining and comparing the crisis response of these various small states that enjoy different income levels, operate different welfare and tax systems, and seek different levels of integration with the EU.

Among the questions addressed in the book are:

    • How did the Nordic countries and the Baltic States respond to the 2008/09 global crisis, and what are the economic and social post-crisis consequences?
    • How did banking, investment and trade linkages affect the crisis response in the Nordic-Baltic region?
    • How did the Baltic States respond to the 2008/09 crisis, compared to the crisis response in Finland and Sweden in the 1990s?
    • How have the welfare and tax systems in the Baltic States developed in recent years compared to the Nordic welfare and tax systems?
    • How are the austerity programmes implemented in the Baltic States, and the associated human costs, likely to affect long-term growth potential in the Baltic States?
    • What are the opportunities and challenges of economic integration in the Nordic-Baltic region, given the different levels of involvement of those countries in EU institutions and systems, including financial sector integration?

See publishers website. 

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