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Post-communist Countries. BETWEEN 1989 AND 1991 the collapse of the Soviet bloc brought down the established political system in a number of countries.' With the rapid decline of the communist party's power throughout the region, and particularly following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it proved impossible to maintain an economic system based on hierarchical subordination, predominant state ownership, and a command-rationing allocation mechanism.2 All previously communist-controlled countries therefore inherited both an economic system that no longer functioned properly and a political struggle for power. The central problem has proved to be one of controlling inflation. In theory, liberalization and privatization can take place without price stabilization, but in practice this combination has not proved effective. At least in these countries, it has not proved possible to balance the budget or control monetary emission without large cuts in subsidies and 1. We focus on twenty-three countries: the fifteen countries that emerged from the Soviet Union, the seven commonly referred to as central or eastern Europe (Poland,

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