β Scribed by Michael R. Czinkota; Ilkka A. Ronkainen
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
It has been 10 years since the global economic and political landscape was shaken by shifts of major seismic dimensions. The still vivid pictures of the then Foreign Minister of Hungry Gyula Horn opening up the country's borders for German refugees to leave for the West, of the hundreds of abandoned Trabant automobiles, of the opening of the Berlin Wall set the stage for a wave of change throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
Many landmark reformations have taken place. Political change was accompanied by the rebirth of a new economic orientation. Plans as determinants for production have lost greatly in their importance. Government-owned firms have been privatized or shut down. Individual entrepreneurship is now said to be prized. Finding and maintaining employment has become more difficult, particularly for older people. The safety net has become more permeable, often leaving pensioners and government employees highly vulnerable. On the international front, the long-standing trade ties developed through the CMEA or Council for Mutual Economic Assistance have loosened if not vanished. The Western export control regime of COCOM which had kept the two economic systems apart was disbanded. In consequence, trade flows from the East have reoriented themselves t o the West. Western investors, eager to serve new markets, also refocused their trade flows and investment activities. Over time, however, individuals and institutions in both the West and East have recognized that the new opportunities also were accompanied by new chal-
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