Crisis management, systemic change, or transformation of party structure? Political dilemmas and responses during the financial crisis of 1873-5

Financial imbalance, budget deficit and mounting indebtedness are nothing new in the history of the Hungarian economy. The study probes into the emergence, management and consequences of such a crisis and describes it through the budget debates in the lower house of Parliament. Rather than focusing on the economic history or the theoretical bases of a 'correct economic policy' independent of place and time, the author concentrates on the revealed processes of the political thinking. How did politicians of the period detect and interpret the financial processes that led to a jump in state debt? What were the knowledge and assumptions from which they derived various responses? Finally, how did they gain the ability to act and make effective political decisions? Although a specific case is described, it may lend itself also to some general conclusions.