A key factor in understanding the transition of the real-estate markets in cities of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union hinges on the transition from state to private ownership. Buildings, commercial centers, homes, and even vacant lots suddenly become prime targets for real-estate speculation and foreign investment. During the Cold War, small amounts of […]

Land tenancy in Cuban agriculture has experienced three pronounced changes since the beginning of the revolution in January 1959. The first agrarian reform law was enacted in May of that year. It proscribed the latifundia (described as estates larger than 405 hectares), and initially distributed some land and encouraged the development of cooperatives on large […]

On March 12, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Helms-Burton Act. Title III of the HelmsBurton law provides for sanctions against third-country companies, with assets in the United States, if they do business with properties in Cuba which are subject to claims before U.S. courts. [ref]Jorge A. Banales, “U.S. Briefs NAFTA Partners on Cuba,” […]

The transformation of centrally planned economies into market economies has met with varying degrees of success. In several countries the process of economic reform has not gone very far or it has stalled, and in some instances it is even in danger of being reversed. [ref]Even in Russia itself, the main challenger to Yeltsin in […]