Regulation can have counter-effects that work against the interests of those who advocate it, in both centrally-planned and market economies. Little research on these effects has been carried out so far, with the result that they have been ignored by policymakers.

Currently there is much discussion as to whether the chapter of West Germany’s post-war history popularly known as the "Economic Miracle" can be repeated in the region of the former GDR. Professor Lang presents a series of factors which encouraged the West German economic miracle at that time,...