Economic Themes (2012) 50 (4) 2, 451-464
Veselin Drašković, Mimo Drašković
Abstract: During the period of the post-socialism transition, the whole system of inhibiting institutional factors has caused the disfunctional conglomerate system. The effect was synergetic, destructive, and anti-development. Two decades of intense crisis, with all the accompanying events, has not been sufficient warning to holders of (vulgarised neoliberal) economic policy in the post-socialist SEE states that something is wrong and that the antidevelopment model ultimately needs to be changed. Most of the Balkan countries are characterised by post-socialist transitional economic systems with deep problems, deformations, and disproportions, which have been deepened and complicated even more by global economic crisis. The article analyzes variation of institutional changes from proclaimed direction of reform and its turn to institutional deviations, which destructively affected economy and society. It explores and explains the transformation of institutional vacuum to quasi-institutional monism, which has grown into a phenomenon of institutional nihilism, by consistent application of interest-oriented neoliberal solutions. The article provides evidence that monistic pseudo-market reforms in the period of post-socialist transition have not succeeded in compensating for a vast institutional vacuum, and that they have even led to its spreading and turning into a quasi-institutionalization, meta- institutionalization and institutional nihilism. This article is trying to show the ruinedness of hitherto disinvestment and anti-institutional economic politics of post-socialist Balkan countries and wishfulness for applying anti-crisis economic policy based on real innovative-institutional elements. We start from the hypothesis that the institutional nihilism is the main cause of unsuccessful postsocial transition and anti-development and vulgarized neoliberal economic policy.
Keywords: economic institution; institutional monism; neoliberalism; transition economies
THE WAY INTO INSTITUTIONAL NIHILISM – THE CASE OF SOUTHEAST EUROPE
Veselin Drašković, Mimo Drašković
Abstract: During the period of the post-socialism transition, the whole system of inhibiting institutional factors has caused the disfunctional conglomerate system. The effect was synergetic, destructive, and anti-development. Two decades of intense crisis, with all the accompanying events, has not been sufficient warning to holders of (vulgarised neoliberal) economic policy in the post-socialist SEE states that something is wrong and that the antidevelopment model ultimately needs to be changed. Most of the Balkan countries are characterised by post-socialist transitional economic systems with deep problems, deformations, and disproportions, which have been deepened and complicated even more by global economic crisis. The article analyzes variation of institutional changes from proclaimed direction of reform and its turn to institutional deviations, which destructively affected economy and society. It explores and explains the transformation of institutional vacuum to quasi-institutional monism, which has grown into a phenomenon of institutional nihilism, by consistent application of interest-oriented neoliberal solutions. The article provides evidence that monistic pseudo-market reforms in the period of post-socialist transition have not succeeded in compensating for a vast institutional vacuum, and that they have even led to its spreading and turning into a quasi-institutionalization, meta- institutionalization and institutional nihilism. This article is trying to show the ruinedness of hitherto disinvestment and anti-institutional economic politics of post-socialist Balkan countries and wishfulness for applying anti-crisis economic policy based on real innovative-institutional elements. We start from the hypothesis that the institutional nihilism is the main cause of unsuccessful postsocial transition and anti-development and vulgarized neoliberal economic policy.
Keywords: economic institution; institutional monism; neoliberalism; transition economies
