Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

Two authors of this chapter were born to the East of what was once The Iron Curtain and two to the West. From both angles, the two systems – capitalism and communism – seemed to be as contrary to each other as possible. Few people are aware that in terms of industrial and trade policy, both classical capitalism and communism had a common root in the theories of German economist Friedrich List (1789-1846) (List, 1841). In fact, for the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1989, both East Germany (DDR) and West Germany (Deutsche Bundespost) celebrated Friedrich List's anniversary with postage-stamps. The two enemies who had split Germany between them even chose the same portrait of their common hero! However, after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the policy that was forced upon the former COMECON countries was not the old capitalism honoured by West Germany in 1989. Capitalist theory (but not practice) had given way to neoliberalism, a system that does not see any difference between economic activities. The theory that came out as a winner at the end of the Cold War was essentially David Ricardo's (1817) theory of international trade, restated by US economist Paul Samuelson (1948). Samuelson 'proved' that free trade, regardless of what was traded, would create a movement towards factor-price equalization (that the price of the factors of production, capital and labour) would tend to equalize across the globe. This neoliberal theory was immediately forced upon the former communist countries, leading to different degrees of deindustrialization.

Authors

• dr Marta Kuc-Czarnecka link open in new tab ,
• dr hab. Magdalena Olczyk link open in new tab ,
• prof Andrea Saltelli,,
• Prof. Erik, S. Reinert