The volume contains an editorial and nine contributions to the proceedings of the 14^th 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.