The establishment of the Communist social model in one part of Germany
was a result of international postwar developments, of the Cold War
waged by East and West, and of the resultant partition of Germany. As
the author argues, the GDR's 'new' society was deliberately conceived as
a counter-model to the liberal and marketregulated system. Although the
hopes connected with this alternative system turned out to be misplaced
and the planned economy may be thoroughly discredited today, it is
important to understand the context in which it developed and failed.
This study, a bestseller in its German version, offers an in-depth
exploration of the GDR economy's starting conditions and the obstacles
to growth it confronted during the consolidation phase. These factors,
however, were not decisive in the GDR's lack of growth compared to that
of the Federal Republic. As this study convincingly shows, it was the
economic model that led to failure.