Beyond Economic Growth in Postwar Central-Eastern Europe?
Beyond Economic Growth in Postwar Central-Eastern Europe?
Author(s): Martin BabičkaSubject(s): History, Comparative history, Economic history, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism, Book-Review
Published by: AV ČR - Akademie věd České republiky - Ústav pro soudobé dějiny
Keywords: East-Central Europe;economic growth;consumption;quality of life;communism;Poland;Czechoslovakia;Hungary
Summary/Abstract: The book "Austerities and Aspirations: A Comparative History of Growth. Consumption, and Quality of Life in East Central Europe Since 1945" (Budapest, Central European University Press 2020), written by the Hungarian historian Béla Tomka, provides a “triple approach” to economic development in East-Central Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia and its successor states, and Hungary). Aiming to go beyond the perspective of economic growth alone, Tomka considers economic growth along with consumption and quality of life. Taking a comparative perspective, he assesses convergences and divergences between East-Central Europe and Western Europe. In the reviewer’s opinion, the book is a useful comparative study of various economic developments in the region, but Tomka remains rather implicit about his value judgement behind choosing certain economic indicators and does not engagewith more critical approaches to economic growth.
Journal: Soudobé Dějiny
- Issue Year: XXVIII/2021
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 760-765
- Page Count: 6
- Language: English