Doom-mongers are eating their hats. Despite their worst predictions, not one of the ex-communist countries of eastern Europe has so far defaulted or even devalued. Indeed, most are seeing a recovery from the financial crisis that a year ago seemed likely to herald not just economic collapse but political turmoil too. Some of the success stories are remarkable: Poland's continuing economic growth, Latvia's climb back from a deep recession and Estonia's qualification to adopt the euro (on January 1st). The latter is a huge achievement for a country that was under Soviet occupation only two decades ago.
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