A comparative analysis of eleven transition economies.The former socialist countries' transition to market economies is one of the momentous transformations in modern history. The pace and degree of success have varied widely, and there is increasing divergence in performance, structure, and institutions among the transition economies. These differences are largely determined by country-specifi…
The three major themes of János Kornai's work reflected in the title of this book—planning, shortage, and transition, or transformation—figure prominently in the essays. The three major themes of János Kornai's work reflected in the title of this book—planning, shortage, and transition, or transformation—figure prominently in the essays. After a philosophical introduction by Edmond…
In 1989, Soviet control over Eastern Europe ended when the communist regimes of the Warsaw Pact collapsed. These momentous and largely bloodless events set the stage for the end of the Cold War and ushered in a new era in international politics. Why did communism collapse relatively peacefully in Eastern Europe? Why did these changes occur in 1989, after more than four decades of communist rule…
Reined into the service of the Cold War confrontation, antifascist ideology overshadowed the narrative about the Holocaust in the communist states of Eastern Europe. This led to the Western notion that in the Soviet Bloc there was a systematic suppression of the memory of the mass murder of European Jews. Going beyond disputing the mistaken opposition between “communist falsification” of hi…