Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Communism and Its Demise
- 2 Radical Reform versus Gradualism
- 3 Output
- 4 Liberalization
- 5 From Hyperinflation to Financial Stability
- 6 Privatization
- 7 The Social System
- 8 The Politics of Transition
- 9 From Crime Toward Law
- 10 The Importance of the European Union
- 11 The Global Financial Crisis, 2007–2012
- 12 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
2 - Radical Reform versus Gradualism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Communism and Its Demise
- 2 Radical Reform versus Gradualism
- 3 Output
- 4 Liberalization
- 5 From Hyperinflation to Financial Stability
- 6 Privatization
- 7 The Social System
- 8 The Politics of Transition
- 9 From Crime Toward Law
- 10 The Importance of the European Union
- 11 The Global Financial Crisis, 2007–2012
- 12 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
The end of communism in Europe was the event of a lifetime. Suddenly twenty-eight countries with 400 million people had to choose their political and economic systems anew. Where should they begin? What was most important? What was possible? What theory should be applied? What policy corresponded to their interests? A frequent comment was that no book prescribed how to transition from socialism to capitalism, whereas hundreds elaborated on the opposite, no longer desired direction. A popular joke compared the transition from communism to capitalism to making an aquarium out of a fish soup.
The discussion became heated from the outset because so much was at stake. The fate of a large part of the world was up in the air. Could and should the former Soviet bloc be embraced by the Western world, or should it be shunned? How much economic and social hardship would people in those countries have to suffer? Which ideology would win? Could armed conflicts be avoided?
Intellectuals of all disciplines and convictions, governments, and international organizations geared up to answer the many questions. Although no clear goal was defined, a strong sense of direction prevailed. h e popular battle cry was, “We want a ‘normal’ society!” By “normal,” people in the Soviet bloc meant an ordinary Western society – a democracy with a market economy, predominant private property, and the rule of law. Because all these countries had far to go, the final destination did not appear very relevant at the outset of the march, and any specification of the goal could be politically divisive. In the havoc of a collapsing socialist system, Eastern and Central Europeans cared little whether their society would be a Western European social welfare state or a freer American market economy, both being evidently superior to their socialist ruins. These distinctions were let for later.
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- Information
- How Capitalism Was BuiltThe Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, pp. 36 - 64Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012