Suchergebnisse

East-Central Europe (Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia—ECE) is one of the least known parts of the world in English-language geography. In spite of its proximity to Western Europe and the European Community (EC) it has received a very modest amount of attention from English-speaking geographers compared with that from German-speaking and French-speaking colleagues. Studies of political and economic geography of the ECE are also hampered by the lack of appropriate methodology and theory. Some of the most important issues involved lie in the economic sphere of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. In the current paper, an attempt is made to survey and evaluate the size and character of existing debt stocks owed to the West by ECE and then to assess their likely impact on the political and economic geography of Europe and the EC. It is concluded that the international financial community is making it politically difficult for the countries in the region to persist with their structural reforms and stabilization policies. The future political and economic geography of ECE and EC depends, to a large extent, on the ability of the Western financial system to respond to the long-term needs of the region.

The privatisation programme pursued by successive Conservative administrations in the 1979–97 period was based on neoliberal values, and was aimed at the reduction of public sector involvement in industry by the promotion of a competitive 'free' market. However, despite this ideological objective, several large utility companies were privatised as regulated monopolies. Against this background, in a notable reorientation of privatisation policy, the Major administration attempted to secure a genuine movement towards market liberalisation when it divested British Rail (BR). An elaborate methodology was used to break BR's monopoly and establish a competitive market for the provision of passenger rail services. The authors argue that, notwithstanding the complexity of the rail sell-off, competition has not materialised and BR's monopoly has to ail intents and purposes been reconstituted in the private sector.