The Making Of Economic Reform In Eastern Europe

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

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.

First published in 1997, this collection of articles and essays analyses the political economy of reform and change in Eastern Europe during the years of Gorbachev’s perestroika and the years immediately following the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Written by Polish economist Jan Winiecki, between 1984 and 1996, this work explores the issue of the feasibility of reform and change during the period of decline and collapse of communist economic order and, later, the emergence of the capitalist economic order in the post-communist Eastern Europe. Split into three parts, the work considers firstly the failures of Gorbachev’s political economy of reform, secondly the determining factors in the collapse of the Soviet system, and finally the feasibility of the systematic change which began in the wake of its collapse.

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

This text features interviews with three of the key human actors behind the reforms in Eastern Europe: Lesek Balcerowicz, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minsiter of Finance, 1990-91; Peter Akos Bod, President of the National Bank of Hungary and formerly Minister of Industry; and Vaclav Klaus, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakian Minister of Finance. The conversations include discussion about their personal and intellectual formation, their views of the development and design of the reform package, their initial expectations, the process of implementing the reforms and the prospects for the future.

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.

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.

This analysis of economic reform in Eastern Europe covers topics such as the economics of conversion, reforming the Soviet economy, reform in Hungary, economic adjustment in Eastern Europe, and Eastern Europe and financial markets.