Reform In Eastern Europe

This incisive report identifies and describes the major policy choices to be made and discusses what will work and what will not.

The author discusses the traditional system of management of the economy as it existed in the early 1950s in the USSR and goes on to deal with the reforms of the 1960s and of the 1980s, country by country. He shows that the focus of the reforms is on finding a proper combination of planning and the market mechanism, and their success will be judged

First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Economic reform - the introduction of elements of the market into a planned economy - has been the central political problem for socialist states for at least three decades. This book seeks to elucidate the nature of the problem through a reconsideration of the general theoretical issues, and through a comparative analysis of the practice of economic reform in two countries - Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

Communism in Eastern Europe is in crisis. Its dimensions are social and economic; its manifestation is political. This volume, a collection of essays by leading authorities, describes the symptoms of the crisis, diagnoses the causes of the malady, and offers alternative scenarios for therapy. A unique dimension of this collection is its avoidance of one-dimensional explanations. The contributors approach the subject from very different angles, and start from very distinct sociopolitical premises. The volume includes original accounts of unexplored aspects of East European communism as well as classic interpretations of the economic crisis and social stagnation that characterize the area. Contributions not only examine the sociopolitical behavior of the ruling apparatus, but also analyze its strategies, political culture, and the opposition. Both the professional and the general reader seeking more information about Eastern Europe will find this volume an extensive, in-depth portrait of the current situation in what many observers predict may develop into the major area of tension in post-World War II Europe. Ferenc Feher, a collaborator and friend of George Lukacs, was a leading member of the "Budapest School." Forced into exile in 1977, he was taught in Australia and is now in New York at the New School for Social Research. He has published widely, in several languages, on the philosophy of art, political theory, and history.

The author discusses the traditional system of management of the economy as it existed in the early 1950s in the USSR and goes on to deal with the reforms of the 1960s and of the 1980s, country by country. He shows that the focus of the reforms is on finding a proper combination of planning and the market mechanism, and their success will be judged by their ability to solve acute economic problems.

Analysis of the ideologycal and political aspects of the reform of economic systems and economic administration in Eastern European countries - discusses the reform alternatives of a planned economy system, the extent of decentralization, particularly in respect of economic planning, the impact of the CMEA economic integration programme, etc. References.