Convergence of Preferences, Proposals, and Prospects

Preferences are converging, and consumer aspirations are increasing in poor as well as rich countries, including Eastern Europe where they were part of the reasons for 1989 together with popular aspirations for democracy. The unanimously proposed means are converging towards marketisation and privatisation. It is not likely that living standards in Eastern Europe will converge towards the levels of the wealthy western countries. Firstly, marketisation is not a sufficient condition for economic growth. Secondly, economic prospects are converging and deteriorating because of environmental damage and shortage of resources which sharpen the global urgency of redistribution, democracy and centralised economic planning.