In many respects the ordinary citizens of SEE are – in terms of health care, job security, and education - worse off now than they were under the socialist system. There is also a growing disparity in the region between the richest and poorest citizens.

The predominant theory driving development in the SEE region since the dissolution of Former Yugoslavia has largely been one of a neoliberal approach to establishing markets and letting the pricing structure sort out inefficiencies.

However there is nothing ‘natural’ about our current economic arrangements. They have been consciously designed to achieve a simple objective: growth. But growth is not making us happier, it is creating dysfunctional and unequal societies, and if it continues will make large parts of the planet unfit for human habitation.

This means starting from first principles and building a new model for how the economy functions. Right now every one of us is dependent on growth. The way our economy is structured means that unless there is growth people lose their jobs, the tax base shrinks and politicians struggle to fund the public services we all rely on every day. We need to do things differently, and soon.