The political economy of reforming socialism

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Scope:: Typoskript, 10 Blätter, paginiert, 1-10, mit zahlreichen Korrekturen des Verfassers.

Description:: The reform was based on a series of illusions. There was first of all the illusion that you could change everything and create a whole new society merely by action from the top. From this followed an ahistoric thinking in terms of simple models. There was the second illusion that you could do all that in a very short time of two or three years (this may have been more make belief than belief). From this followed the shock therapy. And finally there was the illusion that western capitalism, private and public, would lend a helping hand so as to assure that the reform would not fail. Following this the reform was essentially placed into the hands of foreign advisors. The disillusionment on all these counts has so far only produced apathy. The remaining hope, if there is any, is that a spirit of self-reliance may finally prevail. This naturally, would imply also a cooperation, instead of a fight, between the various successor states of the former socialist block. (Auszug, S. 8 u. 9)

Subject:: Osteuropa Sowjetunion Nachfolgestaaten Wirtschaftsreform Wirtschaftssystem Transformation

Note:: Das Paper, ursprünglich 1991 verfasst, enthält 1992 aktualisierte Anmerkungen.

Related work:: Steindl, Josef: The political economy of reforming socialism. In: Review of Political Economy, Volume 6, Issue 4, 1994 (post mortem), S. 385-392

JEL Classification:: P27 [Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Performance and Prospects]