In this book Kazimierz Poznanski offers an integrated study of institutional change in the Polish economy since 1971. He examines the economic peak of the communist phase, the decline of the system, and the post-communist transition since 1989. He provides a complete reevaluation of conventional views of communist economies and the post-communist transition, arguing that the political pressures that affected the communist system have continued to have a disastrous impact on recent "shock therapy" reforms.