This paper is based on the dilemma: effect or cause in the analysis of the economic and financial crisis? The first finding of the study is that it has always been easier to consider that the mistakes from the financial field caused the economic crisis. Currently, in the European Union and Romania there is a concern for aggressive action against financial instability. The second finding is that the crisis phenomenon manifest synergetic, thus the deterioration in the macro and micro- financial environment is joined by reduced growth prospects. The evolutions indicate that an economic crisis is more comprehensive than a financial crisis and a correct analysis underlines the fact that the present day crisis is more serious, because it is generated by a combination of economic and financial causes, but also social and political ones. A new economic philosophy is about the economic stability versus the financial stability.