Abstract
This chapter demonstrates that most policies were moving towards less government and more economic freedom since 1970 until the global Crisis of 2008. Thus, reforms were undertaken in the spirit of the neo-liberal policy agenda of letting markets do their job, and limiting governments to simply set the stage for ever stronger private growth. The chapter also shows that, after 2008, governments around the world reverted to protective policy mood, unlike in many previous episodes of recessions. This is especially valid for government intervention and property rights, and, to a lesser extent, in the other economic freedom policy areas. Graphical analysis is used throughout the chapter. The overall conclusion from the chapter is that the Crisis has stalled the momentum of economic freedom reforms.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abiad, A., and A. Mody. 2005. Financial reform: What shakes it? What shapes it? American Economic Review 95 (1): 66–88.
Blau, B.M. 2017. Economic freedom and crashes in financial markets. Journal of International Financial Markets Institutions & Money 47: 33–46.
Crucini, M., and J. Kahn. 1996. Tariffs and aggregate economic activity: Lessons from the Great Depression. Journal of Monetary Economics 38 (3): 427–467.
Demirgüç-Kunt, A., and R. Levine. 2008. Finance, financial sector policies, and long-run growth. Policy Research Working Paper Series 4469, The World Bank.
Eichengreen, B., and D.A. Irwin. 2010. The slide to protectionism in the Great Depression: Who succumbed and why? Journal of Economic History 70 (4): 871–897.
Feldmann, H. 2017. Economic freedom and human capital investment. Journal of Institutional Economics 13 (2): 421–445.
Garrett, T.A., A.F. Kozak, and R.M. Rhine. 2010. Institutions and government growth: A comparison of the 1890s and the 1930s. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review 92 (2): 109–119.
Gassebner, M., N. Gaston, and M.J. Lamla. 2011. The inverse domino effect: Are economic reforms contagious? International Economic Review 52 (1): 183–200.
Gawande, K., B. Hoekman, and Y. Cui. 2015. Global supply chains and trade policy responses to the 2008 crisis. World Bank Economic Review 29 (1): 102–128.
Goldberg, P.K., and N. Pavcnik. 2016. The effects of trade policy. Working Paper 21957, National Bureau of Economic Research.
Gwartney, J., J. Hall, and R. Lawson. 2016. 2016 economic freedom dataset. Fraser Institute.
Irwin, D.A. (2012). Trade policy disaster: Lessons from the 1930s, Chapter The Great Depression and the Rise of Protectionism, 1–48. MIT Press.
Levine, R. 1998. The legal environment, banks, and long-run economic growth. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 30 (3): 596–613.
Levine, R. 2005. Finance and growth: Theory and evidence. In Handbook of Economic Growth, ed. P. Aghion and S.N. Durlauf, vol. 1, Part A of Handbook of Economic Growth, Chapter 12, 865–934. Elsevier.
Mitchener, K.J., and K. Wandschneider. 2015. Capital controls and recovery from the financial crisis of the 1930s. Journal of International Economics 95 (2): 188–201.
Stankov, P. 2012. Banking crises and reversals in financial reforms. CERGE-EI Working Papers 474, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education—Economics Institute, Prague.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Stankov, P. (2017). Policies and Reforms. In: Economic Freedom and Welfare Before and After the Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62497-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62497-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62496-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62497-6
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)