’...the essays collected here show a refreshing variety of style and interest. For an area about which the literature in the English language has always been sparse, these contributions, each written by a recognized authority in the field, offer most valuable, as well as highly readable, insights and critical appraisals.’ Sidney Pollard, The Slavonic Review ’Readers of this book will realise that a parallel between central Europe’s past experiences and present challenges not only serve academic purposes, but also represents a necessity as long as policy makers are searching for the most appropriate development paths for their countries. An economic history perspective may prove invaluable if economic progress in the region is to be achieved without tremendous social costs.’ Business History

• 1. Introduction, Alice Teichova. 2. Eastern Europe in Transition: Economic Development During the Interwar and Postwar Period, Alice Teichova. 3. Continuity and Discontinuity in the Economic Development of Czechoslovakia 1918 – 91, Vaclav Prucha. 4. Promise, Failure and Prospects of Economic Nationalism in Poland: The Communist Experiment in Retrospect, Henryk Szlaifer. 5. The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia: An Economic History View, Franjo Stiblar. 6. Transformation and the Legacy of Backwardness: Thoughts form a Romanian Perspective, Daniel Daianu. 7. After the Collapse of East Germany: Social Insecurity and Political Disillusion in the New Lander, Jorg Roesler. 8. From Interwar Stagnation on Postwar Prosperity: Austria’s Reconstruction after 1945, Fritz Weber. 9. Property Rights and Debt in East-West European Relations, Michael C. Kaser.

’...the essays collected here show a refreshing variety of style and interest. For an area about which the literature in the English language has always been sparse, these contributions, each written by a recognized authority in the field, offer most valuable, as well as highly readable, insights and critical appraisals.’ Sidney Pollard, The Slavonic Review ’Readers of this book will realise that a parallel between central Europe’s past experiences and present challenges not only serve academic purposes, but also represents a necessity as long as policy makers are searching for the most appropriate development paths for their countries. An economic history perspective may prove invaluable if economic progress in the region is to be achieved without tremendous social costs.’ Business History

• 1. Introduction, Alice Teichova. 2. Eastern Europe in Transition: Economic Development During the Interwar and Postwar Period, Alice Teichova. 3. Continuity and Discontinuity in the Economic Development of Czechoslovakia 1918 – 91, Vaclav Prucha. 4. Promise, Failure and Prospects of Economic Nationalism in Poland: The Communist Experiment in Retrospect, Henryk Szlaifer. 5. The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia: An Economic History View, Franjo Stiblar. 6. Transformation and the Legacy of Backwardness: Thoughts form a Romanian Perspective, Daniel Daianu. 7. After the Collapse of East Germany: Social Insecurity and Political Disillusion in the New Lander, Jorg Roesler. 8. From Interwar Stagnation on Postwar Prosperity: Austria’s Reconstruction after 1945, Fritz Weber. 9. Property Rights and Debt in East-West European Relations, Michael C. Kaser.