New Economic Mechanism
Hungarian economic reforms from 1968
Summary
The New Economic Mechanism (NEM) (Hungarian: Új gazdasági mechanizmus) was a major economic reform launched in the People's Republic of Hungary in 1968. Between 1972 and 1978, it was curtailed by the prevailing winds of Eastern Bloc politics. During the subsequent decade, until the 1989 dismantlement of communism ended the era, the NEM's principles continued to affect the Hungarian economy, even in cases where the "NEM" name was not emphasized. Because of the NEM, Hungary in the 1980s had a higher ratio of market mechanisms to central planning than any other Eastern Bloc economy. The ratio was different to an extent that was politically challenging to bring about in the Soviet sphere because of the ideological mixture it required. The name Goulash Communism was jokingly (but tellingly) applied to this mixture. The Hungarian economy under the influence of NEM principles was widely viewed as outperforming other Eastern Bloc economies, making Hungary colloquially known as "the happiest barrack" in barracks communism.
Originally created by Dkoretz
5/7/2007, 5:55:45 AM
Modified
5/23/2026, 5:27:49 PM
Recent revisions
added [[Category:Market socialism]] using [[WP:HC|HotCat]]
Adding local [[Wikipedia:Short description|short description]]: "Hungarian economic reforms from 1968", overriding Wikidata description "economic reforms undertaken in Hungary in 1968 and in Laos in 1986"
The term "Counter-revolution" was a derogatory term fabricated by communists, and does correctly describe the events of 1989, as they did not lead to the restoration of the pre-communist system, and were not revolutionary in their nature.
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Added some new sources, inline citations with page numbers, added a small paragraph to the Reform section, minor changes to some words. Added Citation Needed tags because I couldn't find anything to verify them.
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Eastern European people
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