EASTERN EUROPE: The Salamizdat

The long and the short of Eastern Europe's controlled economies is that some goods are always in surplus while others are maddeningly scarce. Thus the East Germans are plenteously swaddled in curtain material but sadly lacking in fresh fruit. The Czechs boast a superfluity of fruit but their coffee and vodka are prohibitively expensive. The Soviets are awash in coffee and vodka but desperately desire well-fashioned clothes and shoes. Nearly everyone in Eastern Europe hungers for Hungarian salamis, and Hungary is piled high with them; yet many a Magyar bosom droops...

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