SHOCK THERAPY WORKS

Views on BG | January 2, 2002, Wednesday // 00:00

Abstracted from the Washington Times

Anders Aslund, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment, has no illusions about economic reform in the former Soviet bloc countries. In a new study, he concludes that shock therapy works.

Radical reformers in countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the three Baltic nations and Hungary produced democratic government with "dynamic market economies," he said.

Gradual reformers, such as those in Bulgaria and Romania, achieved partial results, while rejectionists in Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, among others, maintained "firm dictatorships" with moribund state-controlled economies, Mr. Aslund said.

"Shocks have broken up [post-communist economies] by discrediting crony capitalism and its advocates," he wrote in "Building Capitalism: Lessons of the Post-communist Experience," his study of 21 former Soviet bloc nations.

"Financial crises can enforce stringency on both governments and enterprises [even if] not one but two severe shocks seem a common prerequisite for successful market reform," he said.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Views on BG » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria