The reaction of the Polish leadership to the strikes in August 1980 was to promise reforms, and a scheme of reforms has been presented in the meantime. What would be the most comprehensive attempt yet at transforming the present system, which is geared to the Soviet model, and at launching the...

Macroeconomic imbalances in the eurozone have decreased significantly since the beginning of the financial and economic crisis. In Portugal, the economic adjustment process is strongly being driven by growth in export activity. The recent improvement in price competitiveness has supported the...

The unification of the two German states within a relatively short period of time now appears inevitable. Yet there is no historical precedent for a successful transformation from a socialist to a market economy. Doubts have been voiced by some as to whether such a transformation is possible....

The West has scored an economic "victory" in Eastern Europe. In the Far East, on the other hand, developments appear to be slipping out of its hands: not only Japan but also, to an ever greater extent, South Korea and Taiwan have been growing into serious competitors in more and more sectors;...

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....