When the Iron Curtain fell, Eastern European countries were left with the monumental task of building their governments and economies nearly from scratch. In today’s podcast, hear Robert Ebel, International Government Finance Economist, Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel laureate in Economics, and Tom Hazlett, then Editor-in-Chief of The Wesleyan Review, discuss the pitfalls and triumphs of privatizing what were once solid socialist countries. Originally Recorded: 1993
Tag: Communism
Dead Wrong® with Johan Norberg – Consequences of the Berlin Wall (VIDEO)
Episode 39 – European Markets (Podcast)
European countries in the Eastern Bloc were faced with a dilemma after the fall of Soviet Russia. They were tasked with transitioning from a centrally planned economy to a market-based one. That proved more difficult for some than for others. How quickly those countries should make the transition was also a hot topic of debate. Gently nudge the economy along, or rip off the bandage and change everything all at once? Nobel laureate Gary Becker lays out his main reason to fast-track the process, “In any country when you experience rapid change, the window of opportunity to make major changes …
Episode 29 – Privatization Trends (Podcast)
When the Soviet Union collapsed, countries in the Eastern Bloc were faced with a huge challenge. They needed to take their socialist societies and convert them into capitalist ones. How did they change a country where most property was state-owned into something that was based on private property? Each country handled it differently and the results are not surprising. Despite these challenges in the early 90’s, Milton Friedman remained optimistic, “The hopeful thing about this is that the inefficiency of the former system is so great that the new system can make great progress even though they have very inefficient …
Dead Wrong® with Johan Norberg – Stalin, Hitler, and the War (VIDEO)
Dead Wrong® with Johan Norberg – Che Guevara: Symbol of Love or Hate? (VIDEO)