WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS AND PROSPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The world has recently faced a severe financial crisis followed by a deep recession in many countries. Although signs of economic recovery are being perceived, the situation remains to be insecure. Four global crises marked with the decrease of the world GDP per capita have been identified since 1960, the last one of which was the deepest. Projections of relevant international institutions show that production growth in the world may be expected in 2010, but the recovery of global economy will still be modest according to the historical standards.

All major actors in the world economic stage are involved in seeking the solution to get out of the crisis. The question is not only how and when to get out of the crisis, but also where would that lead, i.e. what should the future model of growth look like. A model of sustainable growth which is based on simultaneous respect of economic, social and environmental criteria is offered as a solution both at national and global level. A route towards sustainable growth is traced relying on the experience of successful countries of the world that have achieved noticeable results in that respect. As it can be observed, involvement in the world economy is an important resource of the sustainable growth and that needs to be pointed out in this period of crisis when the globalisation process itself is put under the microscope.

Key words: world economic crisis, sustainable growth, globalisation, economic recovery, economic forecasting.

JEL Clasification: O11, O40