The statute of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) assigns to the institutions of the council the task to promote the process of specialization and cooperation in the production sector of the national economies. The development of the relations between the member countries indicates...

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...