ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in this book. The book describes that it is possible to reach quite varied conclusions about the prospects for the private sectors of the former socialist countries. For those who remember what Soviet and East European socialism was like ten years ago, the evidence presented in this book summarizes a virtual revolution in cultural attitudes about the economy and the proper role of government intervention therein. Some would cite the evidence as an indication of the extreme reluctance of the state in Eastern Europe to give up its direct control over the economy, and of the strong incentives for bureaucrats to hold onto their lucrative decisionmaking authority. Since the general direction of change is toward private ownership, even those owners who have received property unfairly may ultimately face the sorts of incentives faced by any private entrepreneur in the West.
