Abstract
After the collapse of the Communist regimes and their com- mand economies, the countries of the former Soviet Union found themselves with only a very small amount of goods to supply to the global market. In fact, no markets existed for many types of products. There was no way that they could have existed in that an economy of this type is nothing more than a corpse or a so-called “necroeconomy.” The purpose of this paper is to distinguish the various economic foundations of post-Communist capitalism and to examine the key economic problems of this type of society in the context of the modern financial crisis. As international experience shows, dead firms do exist and “successfully” function in the most developed of economies as well with Japan being the most obvious example. These insolvent and, in fact, bankrupt firms which continue to operate despite their “mortality” are commonly referred to as “zombie-firms.” Unlike developed economies, which are exposed to the threat of the zombie- ing of the economy under the conditions of a financial crisis, this threat is even greater for the countries of post-Communist capitalism owing also to their exposure to necroeconomy.