The political revolutions since mid-1989 in the eastern part of Europe have ushered two ambitions into the purview of the new political leaders of most transition economies: pluralistic political democracy and a market economy based overwhelmingly on private property and self-interest, with a minimal role for the state. Whereas it may be appropriate to confine the state's role in economic affairs to the provision of public goods and ensuring property rights, once a fully-fledged market economy in these countries is functioning, the path leading up to fulfilling this ambition for now, will have to be steered by the state, provided governance capabilities can be mustered within these countries, and perhaps with international assistance. "Industrial Policy in Eastern Europe: Governing the Transition" argues the urgency of mobilizing whatever governance capabilities are available to steer the transformation processes towards positive growth, including through proper use of state-owned assets for as long as they cannot be privatized or fully transformed into parastatals, like in Western Europe.
