Abstract
This chapter focuses on two important dimensions of the consequences of 1989 as a major transformation in the ways in which the former-state-socialist states have been integrated into the capitalist world economy. In contrast to the exclusive focus of the literature on economic performance on per capita rates this chapter opens up the analysis of over-time trajectories of states to incorporate an additional dimension by providing a comparative analysis of both relative wealth (per capita rates of performance) and relative global economic weight (share in the gross world product). The results indicate that after the 1989 transformation, a vast majority of the global economic positions of the region's states collapsed, along basically a single precipitous pattern, followed by a somewhat feebler “rebound”. It appears that the state socialist period showed much more variation among members of the Soviet ‘Bloc’ than post-state-socialism. This chapter sheds light on important patterns that remain hidden if observed exclusively through the “rates” lens.