Brief course outline
In lectures, we try to give a review of some of the pertinent issues of central planning and the economics of transition with both an emphasis on theoretical work and on empirical evidence. First we will cover some basic features of the Classical Planning System (CPS) in the Soviet Union and the reasons for its inability to survive as a viable economic system even in its reformed version. We then turn to the following important topics in transition economics: sequencing of reforms; privatization, restructuring and corporate governance; macro stabilization; the political economy of transition; and labor market adjustment in Central Europe vs. CIS. We finally will discuss informal employment in transition countries.