ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights various differences between the present position of the coordinating committee of the participating countries (CEEC) and the post-World War II situation and explore their potential implications in the context of Western help for CEECs along the lines of a Marshall Plan model. Big differences between individual Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries notwithstanding, one may therefore be tempted to forego the conclusion that a “New Marshall Plan” for these countries funded by Western Europe has no place in a well-guided strategy. The efficiency arguments for aid presented so far do not shed much light on why Marshall Plan aid might have been so important to Austria and the rest of Western Europe. When several countries in CEE embarked on a path of systemic transformation in 1989/90, it became evident that their initial conditions were extremely bad, and catching up to Western European income levels would be a long and painful process.
