As 2014 draws to a close, so too do the celebrations of the annus mirabilis of 1989 and the quarter-century of transition that followed in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). While the retrospectives across the region and in Europe...
Napoleon Bonaparte once reportedly complained that history was a set of lies everyone agreed upon. While such a view may be too cynical, it is nonetheless true that nations tend to idealize their past. Poland is no different....
The path taken by Romania and Bulgaria over the past 25 years differs from that of both Central Europe, which embraced free-market capitalism more enthusiastically, and the Western Balkans, much of which was set back by...
After a quarter century of effective economic change, the Czech Republic finds itself searching for a new growth model. Relative success, with per capita GDP nearly double compared to 1993 and households having 600% more in...
November 2014 was again a month of marches in Bratislava, with thousands taking to the streets of the Slovak capital to deplore state corruption much as their parents had massed to bring down communism a quarter century ago.
A quarter of a century after the formation of Tadeusz Mazowiecki’s government, in which Deputy Prime Minister Leszek Balcerowicz was responsible for the economic reforms, economists are trying to answer the question as to...
Romania attracts little interest now on the international scene, although it is still undergoing a turbulent transition. I do not really know how to deal with this country. The recent resumption of growth does not necessarily...
It will be 25 years on 23 December since the Act on Economic Activity, popularly called Wilczek’s bill, was passed. It introduced into the stubborn reality the rule that what is not prohibited is permitted. State regulation was...