The Written Economy

This year's spring and summer were alive with authors and publishers. As with everything except crime and politics, publishing is still far from pre-war levels but, compared to last year, 1994 seems to be a good year.

These books are all more or less openly critical of the Avramovic program, but they have another thing in common: the authors mention hyperinflation only in passing. In other words, hyperinflation is seen as just another in a series of mischievous pranks by the authorities, i.e. part of the system that has dominated in this region for decades.

A good example of an indirect warning of possible damage inflicted upon the national economy by hyperinflation is Oskar Kovac's ``Balance of Payments and International Finance,'' published by GES MECON, Belgrade. The author has been involved in practical and theoretic international economics, especially finance, for years and his book was welcomed by many different audiences.

The book begins and ends with the message that a little market is better than none if a complete market infrastructure cannot be implemented, as well as for the operating of all market mechanisms.

The best example is when Kovac writes about a healthy national currency: ``A country without a real foreign currency market and a minimum of currency convertibility will have only limited access to European financial markets... Those conditions keep the domestic financial market closed, limited to domestic transactions.''

VREME also recommends Mladen Dinkic's ``Measuring Economic Efficiency in the Use of Resources'' published by Ekonomska Politika, Belgrade and sponsored by the Credibel Bank. Dinkic is one of the younger faculty members at the Belgrade University School of Economics, but he is undoubtedly a man with great experience. His experience is proved by a single footnote which says: ``that it is ultimately a good thing that the economic crisis in Serbia does not allow the formation of production giants to replace imports and eliminate competition.''

The book includes some interesting observations resulting from efficiency evaluations the author made using a number of modern methods.

Dinkic's overall conclusion is that mistakes in assessing what is or isn't an opportunity for development are inevitably made when the state defines the national economy and leads to the irretrievable loss of national wealth.

Similar thoughts are expressed in two collections of articles: ``A Strategy for Yugoslavia's Return to the World Market'' and ``Institutional Infrastructure in The Transition to a Market Economy,'' published by the Center For Economic Research at the Social Sciences Institute, Belgrade.

The first collection paints a vivid picture of the long road facing the FRY in its return to world markets. Most of the authors point out Yugoslavia's limitation in that regard and the best ways to get back into the world market if domestic problems are removed. The collection includes a review of possible opportunities once Yugoslav property and finances are deblocked abroad. The book lists Serbian companies' property that remains in the other former Yugoslav republics. However, the authors do not mention what FRY authorities did with Slovenian, Croatian and other former Yugoslav republics' companies' property in Serbia and Montenegro.

The second book is a collection of some 20 professional articles regarding the constitution of the Yugoslav economy and society, both if it follows modern trends or if the authorities manage to keep it isolated and poor. There is a wide range of demands and suggestions: from Srboljub Antic's reasons why, how and how much should be privatized to Ljubomir Madzar's warning that property transformation can't succeed without a suitable legal environment, a strong state where it is needed, legal and contractual security, a reform of the state, etc.

The Institute For Economic Science also published ``Macroeconomic Stabilization---An Alternative Approach'' by five authors, edited by Aleksandar Posarac and Stojan Stamenkovic. The book proposes a different program from the one implemented by Avramovic. A large part of this book focuses on the causes of this economic crisis, starting with the causes dating to the socialist economy concept and ending with the latest concepts drawn up under the mask of a different kind of authority.