The new kind of macroeconomic populism

Abstract

This paper is intended to examine why newly gained EU membership failed to trigger powerful structural reforms in new member states. What evolved in these countries instead was a nonetatist economic policy that sharply contradicted with the requirements of a single currency though. We suppose the ultimate reason could be that economic policy in these countries was limited to the way-too-perfect application of basic macroeconomic textbook strategies. As a consequence, national governments lost all tools and willingness to resolve economic overheating in time. Besides listing a number of explanatory factors, we also make an attempt to draw theoretical conclusions that stretch beyond the scope of economic policy.