Editing Post-communism (section)

== Economy ==
Several communist states had undergone economic reforms from a [[command economy]] towards a more [[Market economy|market-oriented economy]] in the 1980s, notably [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. The post-communist economic transition was much more abrupt and aimed at creating fully capitalist economies.<ref>Charles King, "Post-Postcommunism: Transition, Comparison, and the End of" Eastern Europe"." ''World Politics'' (2000): 143-172. [https://www.academia.edu/download/37200021/King_Post-Postcommunism.pdf online]{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

All the countries concerned have abandoned the traditional tools of communist economic control and moved more or less successfully toward free-market systems.<ref>A summary of the process containing both economic analysis and anecdotal case studies can be found in Charles Paul Lewis's ''How the East Was Won'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).</ref> Although some, such as Charles Paul Lewis, stress the beneficial effect of [[multinational investment]], the reforms also had important negative consequences that are still unfolding. Average [[standards of living]] registered a catastrophic fall in the early 1990s in many parts of the former [[Comecon]]—most notably in the [[former Soviet Union]]—and began to rise again only toward the end of the decade. Some populations are still considerably worse off today than they were in 1989 (e.g. [[Moldova]], and [[Serbia]]). Others have bounced back considerably beyond that threshold (e.g. the [[Czech Republic]], Hungary, and Poland) and some such as [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]] ([[Baltic Tiger]]), and [[Slovakia]] underwent an economic boom, although all have suffered from the [[2009 recession]], except for Poland, which was one of two countries (the other was [[Albania]]) in Europe maintained growth despite the worldwide recession.

Armenia's economy, like that of other former states of Soviet Union, suffered from the consequences of a centrally-planned economy and the collapse of former Soviet trade patterns. Another important aspect for difficulty of standing up after the collapse is that the investment and funding that was coming to Armenian industry from [[Soviet Union]] has been gone, leaving only a few large enterprises in operation. Furthermore, the aftereffects of the [[1988 Armenian earthquake]] were still being felt. Despite the fact that a cease-fire has been in place since 1994, the dispute with [[Azerbaijan]] over [[Nagorno-Karabakh]] has not been resolved. Since [[Armenia]] was heavily dependent on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials at that time, the resulting closure of both the Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has devastated the economy. During 1992–1993, the GDP had dropped around 60% from its peak in 1989. Few years after adoption of national currency, the [[Armenian dram|dram]] in 1993, it experienced [[hyperinflation]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Curtis |first= Glenn |date= 1995 |title=Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia : country studies |url= https://archive.org/details/armeniaazerbaija00curt/page/n11/mode/2up |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. |pages= 1–77 |isbn=0844408484}}</ref>

As of 2021, most post-communist countries in Europe are generally seen to have [[Mixed economy|mixed economies]], although some such as Estonia, Romania, and Slovakia often adopt more traditionally free-market policies, such as [[flat tax]] rates, than does the Western Bloc. A fundamental challenge in post-communist economies is that institutional pressures that reflect the logic of [[capitalism]] and [[democracy]] are exerted on organizations, including [[business]] firms and [[Government agency|government agencies]], that were created under communism and to this day are run by [[Business manager|managers]] [[socialized]] in that context, resulting in a great deal of continuing tension in organizations in post-communist states.<ref>Tilcsik, A. (2010). "From ritual to reality: Demography, ideology, and decoupling in a post-communist government agency". ''Academy of Management Journal''. 53(6). 1474–1498. [http://ssrn.com/abstract=1494035 Abstract].</ref>