[Grzegorz 246]

Eastern European ping list

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[AlaskaErik]

Only Hungary, whose leftist government is trying to pare back a ballooning public deficit with measures that have curbed economic growth, is heading in the opposite direction, according to an OECD report on the country released in April.

Who'd have thunk it...socialism equals a lower standard of living that only gets worse, not better.

[Verginius Rufus]

The figures given in The World Almanac 2008 are a little different--they have Slovenia as the former Communist country with the highest GDP, ahead of Portugal and just slightly behind Greece.

Some former Communist countries with their GDP:

Estonia -- -- --$20,300
Latvia -- -- -- $16,000
Lithuania -- -- $15,300
Poland -- -- -- $14,300
Czech Republic -- $21,900
Slovakia -- -- -- $18,200
Hungary -- -- -- $17,600
Slovenia -- -- -- $23,400
Croatia -- -- -- $13,400
Bosnia & Hercegovina $5,600
Serbia -- -- -- -- $4,400
Montenegro -- -- $3,800
Albania -- -- -- $5,700
Macedonia -- -- $8,300
Bulgaria -- -- -- $10,700
Romania -- -- -- $9,100
Moldova -- -- --$2,000
Ukraine -- -- -- $7,800
Belarus -- -- -- $8,100
Russia -- -- -- $12,200
Armenia -- -- --$5,700
Azerbaijan -- -- $7,500

By way of comparison, the figures for Portugal, Greece, Italy, and Ireland are $19,800, $24,000, $30,200, and $44,500 respectively.

[ishmac]

Czechs are in pole position to overturn decades of post-war economic decline and stagnation to become the first citizens of a former Communist bloc country to attain Western levels of prosperity.

I'm not surprised by this. The Czech Republic was always technologically advanced. It contained the industrial base of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was also spared the worst ravages of WW II. Even during the communists they had a relatively high standard of living. Also Vaclav Klaus's "shock therapy," which caused a lot of pain in the early 90's, was the best policy in the long run. The Czechs are also very bright, ambitious people. They will make their mark in the world (along with the Poles, I think).

Oh yes, and they also jettisoned Slovakia, the most economically backward part of Czechoslovakia. It was a bit Machiavellian at the time, but has worked out pretty well for both countries.