ABSTRACT
The most important distinction between East Germany and other transforming countries is, of course, that it benefited enormously from unification with West Germany. The wealthiest European nation by far, the primary net contributor to the European Community throughout the community’s 40-year history, and the financial benefits of unification with West Germany cannot be underestimated. East Germany again stands out as a unique case among these countries because the whole reform programme was placed in the care of a single government agency. This agency, moreover, enjoyed the financial backing of the former West Germany. The experiences of investors are used as testimony to assess the effectiveness of the Treuhandanstalt as a privatisation agency. The majority consisted of privatisation agents and support staff who accepted positions with the Treuhandanstalt, knowing that these would be temporary at best, with fixed-term contracts contrary to Germany’s normally generous employment benefits. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
