A comprehensive analysis of Albania. Based upon personal experience and an enterprise-level data set, the book offers an alternative view of the 1997 crisis in Albania in which good economic performance suffered a reversal accompanied by social conflicts.

Part 1 Assessment - the reasons for the crisis: the apparent rapid success of the Balkan tiger
the profound crisis in industry
difficulties in emerging services
the missing pillar - inadequacy of the banking system
the unemployment shock
impoverishment wages and incomes
the avoidance of social dialogue and participation
the failure of the mass privatization programme
limitations and drawbacks of foreign capital
the collapse of the Albanian pyramid. Part 2 Prospects - Albania after the storm: the extent of the destruction
a halt to economic activity
macroeconomic indicators moving backwards
the social abyss
reviving production forces
reviving life forces.