Lessons and Aftermath

The lessons of the global financial crisis have been summarized in various reports, lectures, and textbooks. Rather than repeating them, I would highlight some of the crisis lessons from the point of view of emerging EU members, in particular Hungary. This region was special from several aspects, and Hungary is a unique case study. It survived a serious liquidity crisis in 2008 followed by a deep recession in 2009 and a promising recovery. However, due to the social tensions aggravated by the crisis, Hungary was the first to descend into a spiral of destructive and nationalist-populist policy reactions. It had the first illiberal government in Europe whose dangerous U-turn pushed the country into a second financial crisis and recession in 2012. More than ten years have passed since the eruption of the global financial and economic crisis. Thus, while summarizing the lessons, we can investigate whether recent developments, the COVID-pandemic related economic crisis, and its management justify or contradict the lessons learned.