Abstract
This volume contains two papers, one by a Western scholar and one by a local scholar, on the continuing economic crisis, the reform efforts to date, and the prognosis for the future in each country. There is a rare English description by a Romanian scholar of economic conditions under Ceausescu and the first frank assessment of economic policy by an Albanian economist ever to appear in the west. The book also includes a comparison of events in the region with those in East Central Europe, where the prerequisites for transition to market economies and democratic politics seem closer to fulfilment. There is virtual unanimity among all authors - East and West - on the market economy as the only appropriate goal for the countries in question.