ABSTRACT
In Czechoslovakia, the main trouble has been that it has pursued a predominantly extensive course, the prototype for which was the industrialization model sanctified in the Soviet Union by the personality of Stalin. When the extensive road is followed to an extreme it harbors the seeds of economic decline, and when the tolerable limit is passed this potential risk emerges as a reality, taking its inevitable toll in the shape of a decline in economic effectiveness, or even complete stagnation. This chapter first addresses the question that why, in fact, did an industrial country such as Czechoslovakia ever turn to the extensive type of development. Czechoslovakia had failed to promote the most modern sectors where, on the other hand, Western capital found the spearhead for future economic progress. This unfortunate state of affairs was largely the result of arbitrary, unscientific, ill-considered decision-making, plus primitive methods of planning, and the shortcomings of the economy were magnified by unskilled management.
