ABSTRACT
Romania’s pre-1989 economic policies equipped the country with a specific inheritance. In the 1980s, Romania had internationally specialized in industrial goods with low value added. The fabric of manufacturing was formed by giant enterprises, while small and medium enterprises had vanishing relevance. State control of any economic activity, that had already been high at the beginning of the decade, was further extended. At the same time, achieving economic autarky ranked first among the economic policy objectives. Due to the forced reduction of external debt, the country underwent serious economic hardship in the 1980s, including damaging underinvestment and the strangulation of domestic consumption. Though Romania concluded the Ceausescu era with zero foreign debt, the economy suffered from deferred modernization.1
