The Second Economy in Romania

An analysis of Romania’s economic situation of the early 1980s, despite the poor and relatively unreliable statistical information available (Pissulla, 1984: 122; Jackson, 1986a: 512) reveals that the Romanian standard of living has been drastically declining and appears to be the lowest among the Eastern European CMEA countries. Unlike Poland, where the population has openly reacted against similar developments, the Romanians have chosen to remain passive and have sought to develop privatism instead (Sampson, 1986b: 2ff). Various explanations of this attitude have been put forward: competition and suspicion between Romania’s major ethnic groups; the lack of political collaboration between intellectuals and workers (unlike Poland); individualistic orientation and cultural influences on political consciousness (Kideckel, 1986: 3); and the existence of an omnipresent second economy. Of these explanations, the latter is the most important and logical one.