Development of the Insurance Industry in Europe in Economic and Financial Crisis

This paper analyzes the evolution of the insurance sector in Europe, focuses on the European Union （EU） member states, and considers the impact of economic and financial crisis on that sector. The European private insurance market is a developed market having an investment portfolio of 7,740 billion euros in 2011, an amount corresponding to 55% of the gross domestic product （GDP） of the 32 European markets members of Insurance Europe. Therefore, the importance of this sector as a long-term investor and major employer is obvious for the stability and growth of European economy. However, the insurance sector has been considerably affected since 2009 due to the global economic and financial crisis, which has had negative effects not only on the evolution of the value of insurance premiums underwritten, but also on the return on investment of the insurance companies.

An Interpretation of the Influential Power of China Development

Through the analysis on China＇s economic develop- ment, utilization of resource environment and soft power, a basic judgment was made of the influence of ＂China development＂. The overall influential power of China development on international community was misunderstood. What we see is the role of ＂China Factor＂ in different fields. In the process of economic globalization, what economic system of capitalist market has seen is ＂China＇s cheap labor＂, ＂China＇s loose economic system environment＂, ＂earlier abuse of unlimited resource environment＂, ＂China＇s broad consumption market＂ and ＂demographic dividend＂. In global or Asian financial crisis, what other countries valued was China＇s ＂foreign currency＂ accumulated over the years. In global gov- ernance or crisis management, what international community expected was ＂China＇s obligations and responsibilities＂ without the right of speech, etc.. All these are the ＂passive＂ roles produced by ＂a single factor＂ in definite fields. The active and initiative role China will play in international community still needs time and the continuous efforts of several generations. China once was a big country that had significant inftuential power on the world, and China＇s renaissance is a normal process of development of things. What excessive talks about its influential power reflect may be the lack of China＇s influence.

The Cost of Financial Stability in Times of Crisis： The Case of Bulgaria

The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical policies in different forms. In most countries, this resulted in a widening budget deficit and mounting government debt. Then, a raft of measures to deal with fiscal instability followed, which, however, restricted growth and had high economic and social costs. Bulgaria was among the EU Member States that turned fiscal discipline into a priority and was one of the few to manage, at least seemingly, to achieve satisfying results. The benefits that the country reaped are indisputable but the price it had to pay was too high. Many private sector companies faced insolvency, unemployment hit record highs, and important structural reforms were delayed.

Some Neglected Causes of the Global Financial Crisis and Their Implications for Effective Crisis Governance

The essay analyzes in a sociological and political science perspective several key aspects of the global economic-financial crisis which have either been neglected or not sufficiently analyzed in most scientific and media accounts. It focuses on two basic aspects： a） the coguitive framework prevailing among U. S. corporate, governmental and intellectual elites, i.e. the neodiberal conception of the self-regulating market, which deeply influenced their behaviour both in the market and in the political arena and b ） the mechanisms of pressure politics and political lobbying in the US Congress that managed to influence key decisions concerning de-regulation policy, in so far as to weaken the existing systems of institutional controls and to prevent new rules for new financial products. The last section evaluates President Obama＇s economic strategy and regulation policy in the light of the two basic aspects analysed in the first two sections, i.e. the action of lobbies and the influence of mainstream neo-hberal economics. The aim of the essay is to integrate the economic literature with a sociological and political analysis in order to gain clearer knowledge of the complex mechanisms of the crisis, which in turn can contribute to identifying key obstacles in implementing pohcies aimed at enforcing new forms of regulation of global markets.