The financial systems inherited by post-communist countries are damaging their economic development and make impossible macroeconomic policies aimed both at growth and economic stabilization. This incompatibility is illustrated by recent Polish experiences under both the last communist and the...

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have succeeded in rapidly reducing their current account deficits despite fixed exchange rates. Which factors have played a major role in this? What similarities, and what differences, do the Baltic states show compared to Greece and Portugal? What insights can be...