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This article analyzes the decline in living standards in the New Member States (NMSs) of the European Union after the financial crisis, in the light of their known trends in the past decade and their growth model. Living standards in the NMSs rose significantly during the past ten years. In particular, Bulgaria, Romania, and the three Baltic countries converged swiftly toward the EU average. However, these five countries are also the NMSs that have “deconverged” most sharply since the crisis, owing to the prior accumulation of macroeconomic imbalances. This should encourage them to adopt more balanced growth strategies.