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Article: Life after death. (after the disbanding of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, what's next for the Communist countries)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 20, 1991
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE end of Comecon is causing a lot of pain but few tears. Despite its full name-Council for Mutual Economic Assistance-it was neither mutual, nor economic, nor much help to its members (which included Cuba, Vietnam and Mongolia, as well as the Soviet Union and six East European countries). In its 42-year life, deals were Soviet-dominated, trade patterns distorted and industrial weaknesses reinforced.
Old trading habits, though, die hard. Since january, when Comecon for practical purposes ceased to exist, trade in the area has plunged into a new sort of chaos. The old, organised barter has ended. As trade is now meant to be conducted in dollars, which indebted ...