The Price of Accession

The rumor got started in the Baltic states last month, then swept across all of Central and Eastern Europe. Alzbeta Santúrová, a retiree who lives in the south Slovak village of Bajc, heard one version of it last week: the price of sugar was about to skyrocket from the current 98 per kilo to around $1.34. So Santúrová is stocking up; she is buying 50 kg. "I am afraid," says Santúrová, 65, who lives on a $170-a-month pension. "I need at least 60 kg of sugar to make wine every year ... God forbid I let myself be caught off guard."...