The 1974 Trade Act gives the US President extensive authority to engage in multilateral trade negotiations in the framework of GATT. The following article offers a survey of the provisions of the Act and discusses its possible impact on international trade relations.

All formerly centrally planned economies record very substantial declines in their social products. The largest drops in production are recorded in Poland and in east Germany (the former GDR), that is, in those countries where the most radical steps towards a market economy were taken in 1990....

In 1990 the privatisation debate in the ex-socialist countries advanced considerably. By now, the fundamental importance of private property for a market economy and the pitfalls of employee-ownership schemes are rarely disputed. Instead, the need for rapid privatisation and suitable methods of...