The Economics of German Unification: an Introduction

Following German reunification in 1990, East Germany's centrally planned economy was abolished and replaced by West Germany's social market economy. Western Germany has since provided vast financial support to aid the transformation, and enable eastern Germany to catch-up with western Germany's productivity and living standards. This book evaluates the main events and their outcomes since mid 1990 and the associated policy issues. The authors assess the medium- to long-term growth prospects of eastern Germany and the wider implications for western Germany and Europe.