Why did some countries and regions of Europe reach high levels of economic advancement in the nineteenth century, while others were left behind? This new transnational survey of the continent's economic development highlights the role of regional differences in shaping each country's economic path and outcome. Presenting a clear and cogent explanation of the historical causes of advancement and backwardness, Ivan Berend integrates social, political, institutional and cultural factors as we...

This book analyzes the European Great Recession of 2008-12, its economic and social causes, its historical roots, and the policies adopted by the European Union to find a way out of it. It contains explicit debates with several economists and analysts on some of the most controversial questions about the causes of the crisis and the policies applied by the European Union.It presents the cases of Iceland, Greece and Ireland, the countries that first declined into crisis in Europe, e...

The last two centuries have been the scene of dramatic change throughout Europe. And one of the main causes of these tremendous and spectacular changes was the economy. These transformations were achieved by people: scientists and political thinkers, inventors and entrepreneurs, educators, skilled and educated workers. Who not only invented machines and computers, but were able to renew economic and political systems. This volume, therefore, presents a new approach to the period by looking...

The Soviet Union's dramatic collapse in 1989 was a pivotal moment in the complex history of Central and Eastern Europe, and Ivan Berend here offers a magisterial new account of the dramatic transformation that culminated in ten former Soviet Bloc countries joining the European Union. Taking the OPEC oil crisis of 1973 as his starting point, he charts the gradual unravelling of state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe, its ultimate collapse in the revolutions of 1989, and the economic ...

Before he became a professor at UCLA, Ivan Berend had survived five regime changes and two revolutions in Hungary, has been in prison and German concentration camp in 1944-45. His memoir offers an interesting case study, a subjective addition to the &quote;objective&quote; historical works on Central and Eastern European state socialism.

The Economics and Politics of European Integration offers a comprehensive history of European integration, from the conceptualization of a United States of Europe, to the present day. The special role of the United States in this process of integration, and the expansion and evolution of the European Union, is critically analyzed. The book also thoroughly discusses the current view of the EU and the complex crises emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.While the book focuses ...

This new edition of Ivan T. Berend's leading overview of economic regimes and economic performance from the start of the twentieth century to the present is fully updated to incorporate recent events, including the causes and impacts of the 2008 financial-economic crisis. Praised for its clear prose and uncluttered analytical style as well as its use of illustrative case studies, this is an integrated, comparative account of European economic development from the evolution of capitalism to...

This book gives a complex description and discussion of today’s populist attacks against the European Union (EU) following the financial crisis of 2008, which opened the floodgates of dissatisfaction, and the migration crisis which destabilized the traditional solidarity basis of the EU. The problem of Brexit is also explored.Each chapter presents one of the main elements of the crisis of the EU. These include West European populism, Central European right-wing populism in power, a...

This book presents the sharp regional diff erences within the integrating European continent. Four regions – Northwestern Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern-Southeastern Europe – represent high, medium, and relatively less-developed levels of economic advancement. These disparities have emerged as a result of historical diff erences that produced and reinforced cultural and behavioral diff erences.The author examines the distinctions between the regions, looks at ...

The European Union widened and deepened integration when it introduced the Single Market and the common currency, increasing the number of member countries from 12 to 28. After a quarter of a century, the 2008 financial and economic crisis opened a new chapter in the history of European integration. Prosperity was replaced by economic crisis and then long stagnation, with ramifications far beyond the economic arena.For the first time, after more than half a century, some countries ...

The foundation of the European Union was one of the most important historical events in the second half of the 20th century. In order to fully appreciate the modern state of the EU, it is crucial to understand the history of European integration. This accessible overview differs from other studies in its focus on the major roles played by both the United States and European multinational corporations in the development of the European Union. Chronologically written and drawing on new findi...

This is a fascinating new overview of European-American relations during the long twentieth century. Ranging from economics, culture and consumption to war, politics and diplomacy, Mary Nolan charts the rise of American influence in Eastern and Western Europe, its mid-twentieth century triumph and its gradual erosion since the 1970s. She reconstructs the circuits of exchange along which ideas, commodities, economic models, cultural products and people moved across the Atlantic, capturing t...