The Romanian economy is currently facing a context circumscribed to 3 post-stages: post-transition, post-EU accession, and post-crisis. These open a “new beginning” from an economic and institutional point of view. In this respect, a new development model must give up at least several illusions: first, the illusion that prosperity can be built on economic deficits and public debt, or on the artificial stimulation of consumption, which implies short-term vision; second, the illusion that monetary and financial policy can always replace real reform, structural reform; last but not least, the illusion that prosperity, once obtained, will not vanish. On the contrary, the recent crisis left painful marks in this respect.