Modern Albania: from dictatorship to democracy in Europe

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Notes

1. In a commentary on this review, Arben Malaj, economist and the Minister of Finance and Economy that brought Albania through the economic recovery from the pyramid schemes, cautioned against making a causal relation between the collapse of the schemes and the lifting of sanctions, arguing that much of the money laundered was from the construction boom and real estate deals in the burgeoning capital city, Tirana, and that one of the main reasons the schemes escalated out of control was that the ruling Democratic Party used the public’s euphoria over quick money from the schemes to bolster their position and win the 1996 election (Berisha went so far as to run television spots guaranteeing the safety of money invested in the schemes).