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 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...