ABSTRACT
The Soviet economic system was founded on classical Leninist 'socialist' principles. Stalin imposed his version of the model on Central-Eastern Europe in the early post-war era. Soviet and Central European Communist Party rulers before 1954 had criminalized private property, private business and entrepreneurship. The implementation of reforms in Central Europe was carried out by national communists who around 1956 replaced the Muscovite communists who had taken power in 1948-49. The evolution and outcomes of Central Europe were definitely more favorable. These countries started with a greater degree of social cohesion and economies in better shape than the post-Soviet ones. Transformation was achieved in Russia, Ukraine and Central Europe. It was real and deep, but it wasn't obviously a transition to an optimal system or canonical democratic free enterprise, social democracy, German social market economy, or North American liberal economy. The impact of the 2008 global financial crisis was milder in Central Europe than other western countries.
