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Debate transcript: Free market capitalism has failed the former Soviet states

This is a full transcript of the debate 'Free market capitalism has failed the former Soviet states', a Foundation of Effective Governance event (with IQ² as technical partner) which took place in Kiev on June 15th 2010.

An accompanying written debate is also available.

Event details:

With the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago, the newly-emerged independent states rushed to adopt capitalism and establish free–market system as quickly as possible. They believed it would pre-determine the economic growth and higher standard of living for everybody. The reality, however, turned to be far more complex. All former Soviet states experienced GDP fall and fierce inflation, income gap had widened substantially and many people fell below the poverty line. The apparent failure of capitalism in those newly emerged countries initiated discussions on whether the economic model of the free market capitalism itself was a flawed one. The debate over the topic has only intensified in the view of the recent global economic crisis.