The Commonwealth of Independent States Needs the Right Kind of Help

Abstract

It has finally happened in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): Political reforms have outrun economic reforms, but when the euphoria subsides and the dust settles, the same old problems will surface. The economic system known to the CIS for over 73 years is one driven by rules and directives, not by economic forces. For this reason, the start of any transition mandates educating the CIS people in market theory, economics, law, management, marketing, and technical skills. The CIS people are, and rightly so, initially frightened of “unknown new Western ideas” like incentive, risk, profit, loss, unemployment, and increasing hardships they face during the transition. Potential free marketeers in each of the newly independent States need to comprehend private sector economic and marketing skills to create a small to medium‐size private sector business infrastructure. The opportunity for quick economic reform to a free‐market economy in the CIS has been enormously enhanced.

Citation

Enen, J. (1992), "The Commonwealth of Independent States Needs the Right Kind of Help", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 18-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb060159