The volume contains an editorial and nine contributions to the proceedings of the 14 international conference of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University. The first part reflects on the persistent monetary, fiscal and economic crisis in the EU and other OECD countries. The second part deals with specific answers to economic challenges by municipalities and enterprises, treating clusters, NPM and M&A. In a broad sense, the third part is dedicated to sustainable development, including a theoretical, a predominantly political and a practice oriented contribution. The articles are written by authors from five nations: Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. In the background of each position, there is a certain national tradition; the authors use theoretical as well as empirical approaches. The volume encompasses ten figures and eleven tables.

Contents: Jürgen Plöhn: Editorial ¿ Corbett F. Gaulden: Fiscal Mischief and Fiscal Constraint in the European Crisis ¿ George Chobanov/Teodor Sedlarski: On the Economic Policy Dilemma: Economic Darwinism versus Interventionism ¿ Jean-Pierre Gern: Is Competitiveness Development Self-defeating Trough its Impact on Social Structures and Values? ¿ Luca Bartocci/Francesca Picciaia: Beyond State and Market: Towards a Participated Governance of Local Public Utilities? ¿ Christian Scheiner/Christian Baccarella/Stephan Hohenadl/Kai-Ingo Voigt: Embedded Systems in the European Metropolitan Region of Nuremberg - A Cluster Development Analysis ¿ Stefka Iankova: Main Factors of Success in Mergers and Acquisitions¿ Performance ¿ Joachim Schwalbach: Sustainability: Why the Honourable Merchant Wins in the End ¿ Dieter Flämig: Social and Economic Strategies for a Sustainable Society ¿ Andreas Scholz-Fleischmann: Infrastructure Economy as a Nucleus for More Sustainability.