This article looks into the variable impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 on the economies of the Black Sea region. In most cases, the impact was swift and negative but short-lived. What pervades the post-crisis environment is an underlying sense of uncertainty. This is a necessary development to a degree, a correction of the recklessness which had become a hallmark of the latter phase of the pre-crisis boom, during which over-leveraging had reached dangerous levels and ultimately unraveled at a high economic and social cost. However, it is a key factor behind sluggish post-crisis investment, reducing observed economic growth rates and potentially suppressing longer-term growth prospects. The article also supports that the variable impact of the crisis has demonstrated the persistent heterogeneity of the Black Sea economies, which is attributable to structural factors. The latter makes the delineation of any region specific strategy for economic growth, or crisis management, difficult.
LIVING IN SUSTAINED UNCERTAINTY THE BLACK SEA REGION AFTER THE 2008 GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
