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....

The economic difficulties manifest in communist countries have encouraged a desire in many of them to move toward a market economy. This paper surveys specific reasons for the breakdown of centrally planned economies and discusses the difficulties of making the transition to a market economy. A...