Political Economy Dimensions of the Crisis: the Case of Bulgaria

The author’s opinion is that it is the endogenous rather than the exogenous factors that happened to be decisive for overcoming the present and newly arising economic difficulties and obstacles. Various manifestations of the crisis are examined and it is proved that the poor quality of the domestic institutions and their operation underlie the economy in stagnation. The macroeconomic elite conceives its participation in the power as a unique opportunity to get rich and considers its functions as a possibility for a “free riding”, i.e. that economic processes develop almost automatically by their own laws and that an individual misuse will not affect the natural course of developments. Especially dramatic is the situation in the legal system which allows washing ownership rights away and is influential in bringing about distorted non-market norms of behavior. Even commonsense regulatory principles are turned into a caricature. The behavior of economic players at company level gives grounds to claim that the managers’ preparation does not come up to the level required. Ultimately, it is the education system that could raise all the population and the economic players to the point where a real control and improvement of the present system of management of society will become possible.