| The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - WIIW |
Estonia: Cooling the boom
In 1997 Estonia experienced the fastest economic growth in Europe as
GDP rose by 11.4%. One side effect was an overheating of the economy which
manifested itself in a halt of the disinflation process in the second half
of 1997. Another side effect was a further substantial deterioration of
the current account deficit which reached 13% of GDP. This made Estonia
vulnerable to contagion effects of the Asian crisis. A shift in macro-economic
policies has been engineered to cool the economy. Meanwhile the reforming
drive has not abated. Estonia is now under the Acquis-screening process,
the first stage of the EU accession negotiations.
Income elasticities of demand for consumer goods in transition countries
The paper offers estimates of income and own-price elasticities of
demand for 14 aggregates of consumer goods and services for seven West
European countries, ten transition economies and the USA. The estimates,
derived from data provided by the European Comparison Project for 1993,
allow calculation of changes in the demand for each consumer aggregate
in individual countries following changes in per capita consumer incomes.
Hungary after the elections
The winner of the recent elections in Hungary, the centre-right FIDESZ
Hungarian Civic Party, will have to face two challenges in the coming months.
First, to translate the overambitious promises of the election programme
into feasible economic policy measures, and second, to find a viable cohabitation
with its 'difficult' coalition partner, the Smallholders Party.