Structural Changes in the Economies of the European Members of Comecon

Abstract

At the present stage of full-scale communist construction in the USSR and successful construction of socialism in the people's democracies, the economy is the main battlefield for communism and socialism. The rate of economic growth in the socialist countries is much higher than in the capitalist countries. In contrast to the less than 200% increase of industrial production in all of the capitalist countries in the period 1937-1963, the countries of the world socialist system show a 700% rise. Industrial production in the formerly economically backward socialist countries showed an especially rapid growth. The share of the industrialized countries - the GDR and Czechoslovakia - in the gross industrial product of the member-countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance has dropped from 16.46% in 1950 to 15.34% in 1961. The share of Poland, Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria rose from 13.5% to 14.98% over the same period.