Hungary and the eurozone crisis: a comedy of errors?

The spill-over of the global fi nancial crisis has uncovered the weaknesses in the governance of the EMU. As one of the most open economies in Europe, Hungary has suff ered from the ups and downs of the global and European crisis and its mismanagement. Domestic policy blunders have complicated the situation. This paper examines how Hungary has withstood the ups and downs of the eurozone crisis. It also addresses the questions of whether the country has converged with or diverged from the EMU membership, whether joining the EMU is still a good idea for Hungary, and whether the measures to ward off the crisis have actually helped to face the challenge of growth.

"It's so little money you could make as much at home" - options for work in an impoverished rural region of high unemployment.

Hungary has a higher unemployment rate than the member states of the European Union and even most former socialist countries. This rate for 15-64 year-olds has been around 56% since 1999, as against 66% in the European Union (OECD Employment Database). There is also a high degree of regional unevenness within the country. The situation is worst in North Hungary, an area of multiple economic and social deprivations. Several pieces of research have analysed the causes of long-term unemployment and have highlighted the main social, geographical and institutional factors behind it. People of low educational attainment who live in small villages and members of the Roma minority are particularly likely to have been without jobs for a long time.

Vállalati versenyképesség válsághelyzetben. Gyorsjelentés a 2009. évi kérdőíves felmérés eredményeiről

Ez a Gyorsjelentés a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem Vállalatgazdaságtan Intézetében működő Versenyképesség Kutató Központ által lebonyolított kérdőíves felmérés eredményeire támaszkodik. A felmérést 2009 áprilisa és novembere között bonyolítottuk le, a TÁRKI munkatársainak és a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem hallgatóinak közreműködésével. 313 vállalat 1246 vezetőjét kérdeztük meg egy-egy terjedelmes kérdőívvel. Valamennyi vállalatnál az elsőszámú vezetőt, valamint a pénzügyi, a kereskedelmi és a termelési vezetőt kerestük meg, akiktől részben azonos, részben eltérő kérdésekre vártunk választ.