ABSTRACT
Eastern Europe is a geopolitical rather than a geographical term. The region denoted by this term comprises the eight small and medium-sized Communist countries in Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Economic performance is multidimensional. An objective assessment of Eastern Europe's economic performance based solely on official data is virtually impossible because the statistics use different definitions of many economic concepts than those customary in market economies and because the data are "politicized" in various ways and for a variety of reasons. The standard of living and income distribution are further aspects of economic performance about which it is difficult to make statistically meaningful comparative assessments. An ingenious way of getting around the measurement problems as far as comparable levels of development and growth rates are concerned is through the use of the physical indicator method.
