ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how planners in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania have reacted to a total of nineteen poor harvests in the period from 1960 to 1980. It provides an analysis of the pattern of grain imports of five centrally planned economies. The chapter explains policy issues and explores how grain exporting market economies can protect themselves against the costs of demand irregularity without foregoing the benefits of trade with the planned economies. The signing of a grain agreement between any number of exporters and CPE importers will change the exporters’ and CPE importers’ offer curves. The Soviets contracted for their grain needs earlier than other buyers and as a result paid higher average prices for grain than did importers who made their purchases over the course of the entire year. The chapter provides a number of issues have been raised in connection with the trade in grain between the United States and CPEs.
