Remaking Eastern Europe — On the Political Economy of Transition

ISBN-13: 9789401067959 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 223 str.

J.M. Van Brabant

Opis

This compact volume is meant as a modest contribution to the ongoing debate on how to transform in particular the radically reforming Eastern European economies into more productive sociopolitical organizations. Although my main focus here is on the economics of reform and east-west assistance, I have tried to embed the multiple technical aspects of restructuring such a resource alloca tion into the context of remaking Eastern Europe. That the volume coincides with the seminal transformations of the communist countries of Eastern Europe is, of course, not fortuitous. But I shall have much less to say about the politi cal transitions from communism to parliamentary democracy, except the ways in which the latter may bolster or hinder the hoped-for economic mutations. In taking stock of where I stand on the issue of "radical reform" of planned economics in general and the CMEA in particular, both still moving targets, I have benefited greatly from participation in formal and informal conferences on economic reform. The product has also profited from many informal discus sions and exchanges of views among friends and colleagues, including those entrusted with and purely interested in efforts on the overall topic of the study launched from within the broad context of the United Nations, my at times reluctant employer."

Spis treści

1. The new international setting.- 2. Objectives of the study.- 3. Focus of the study.- 4. Terminology.- 5. Remaking the global economic framework?.- 6. A Guide through the volume.- 1: Eastern Europe in transition.- 1. On the meanings of the CMEA.- 2. Recent developments in CMEA relations.- 1. Intragroup economic relations.- 2. Domestic economic reforms.- 3. Miscellaneous sociopolitical events.- 4. Transforming the European scene.- 3. CMEA economic relations.- 2: Reforming CMEA integration.- 1. Core difficulties of CMEA cooperation.- 2. Gingerly acceptance of the need for renewal.- 3. The critical avenues slated in 1986–1987.- 4. Toward a unified CMEA market?.- 5. Toward radical changes?.- 3: The treadmill of reforms in eastern europe.- 1. Relevance of the legacies of central planning.- 2. The first strategy of socialist economic development.- 3. Salient features of the CPE model.- 1. Comprehensive central planning.- 2. Efficiency indicators and resource allocation.- 3. Indirect coordination instruments and institutions.- 4. Foreign trade and payments regime.- 4. Objectives of economic reforms in MPEs.- 4: On the economics of transition.- 1. Key aspirations of market orientation.- 2. The starting conditions for market-oriented reforms.- 3. Key components of market orientation.- 4. Key characteristics of the RPE.- 1. The microeconomic sphere.- 2. The macroeconomic sphere.- 5. Legacies of central planning and the transition phase.- 5: The political economy of east-west assistance.- 1. The core issues at stake.- 2. The international context of assistance to PETs.- 3. Overview of western assistance to PETs.- 1. Financial assistance.- 2. Commercial policy facilitation.- 3. Industrial cooperation.- 4. Emergency assistance.- 5. Other types of assistance.- 4. On associating PETs with integration schemes.- 5. On providing foreign assistance to PETs.- 6: The Marshall Plan and Eastern Europe.- 1. The overall environment of the Marshall Plan.- 2. Basic facts about the Marshall PLan.- 3. Critical components of the program.- 4. Paramount achievements of ERP.- 5. A Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe?.- 6. Key problems of an Eastern European Marshall Plan.- 7: Property rights and privatization.- 1. On privatization and property rights.- 2. Alternative ownership forms and their implications.- 3. On privatization in eastern europe.- 4. The desirability of privatization.- 5. Advantages and drawbacks of privatization.- 6. Difficulties of privatizing state assets.- 1. Divestment.- 2. Private exploitation of the usufruct.- 3. Operating privatized assets.- 7. Alternative forms of privatization.- 1. Spontaneous privatization.- 2. Free distribution.- 3. Distribution of user rights.- 4. Sale of state-owned assets.- 8: East-west assistance and PETs.- 1. Macroeconomic policy framework.- 2. On the creation of a market.- 3. Macroeconomic policies.- 4. On the sequencing of reforms.- 5. Is western assistance in need of reform?.- 9: Remaking the CMEA and east-west assistance.- 1. General backdrop to Eastern European integration.- 2. The case for remaking the CMEA.- 3. Reforming the trade regime.- 4. Toward reform of the payments system.- 5. East-west economic assistance and the CEPU.- 6. Toward a new CMEA constitution.- 10: PETs and the global economic system.- 1. Remaking the CMEA and the global economy.- 2. East-west economic assistance and the DEs.- 1. Impacts on trade and the international trading regime.- 2. Reforms in PETs and the international monetary regime.- 3. Reforms and international resource flows.- 4. Are concerns warranted?.- 3. PETs and the international monetary regime.- 4. PETs and the international financial regime.- 5. PETs and the international trading regime.- 6. Remaking Europe.- Conclusions.