In this book, Iliana Zloch-Christy analyzes the causes and consequences of the massive East European debt that began in the 1970s. In assessing the region's convertible currency debt problem, the author addresses five main issues: the origins of the debt; the possibility that such a debt was essential to Eastern Europe's economic development; the effects of the countries' own adjustments to the problem; the value of the aid provided by the West; and the outlook for the debt during the rest of the decade. The book analyzes the flaws of the centrally-planned economies that led to the crisis as well as the lack of effective structural adjustment. The author also covers the roles of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and looks at the potential debt consequences of resurging East-West trade.