The Commonwealth of Independent States; P. Hill

But the bleak landscape of the CIS economy can be viewed through another set of glasses. Every one of the problems we hear about is also an opportunity, a chance in a lifetime for someone. Today, for example, the. inland waterways are dotted with rusting hulks of sunken ships. The state agency in charge of shipping found it too troublesome to remove ships that ran aground. But to a man I willcall Sergei, a former high offi cialwith this agency,they represent an opportunity for profit. He has obtained rights to these ships on sections of two rivers in Russia, the Volga and Oka, and is starting to find a market for the scrap metal he is removing. Similarly, to a former student I will call Vladi Peter J. Hill is a Senior Associate of the Political Econo my Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, and Profes sor of Economics at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He recently served as an economic adviser to the Bulgar ian government.

mir, the absence of consumer goods in state stores represents a chance for profit. Vladimir has dropped out of school, constructed three kiosks, and placed them on the streets of Gorky (now called by its original name, Nizhny-Novgorod), where he sells children's clothes, shoes, and what ever other consumer goods he can get his hands on. A recent visitor even found chewing gum from India for sale. Such entrepreneurs are still few in number, and the lack of private rights in the Commonwealth of Independent States creates serious obstacles for even these. I have used pseudonyms for them because their legal status is hazy.It is not clear that they have the right to purchase the goods they are selling. Since most property still belongs, at least nominally, to the state, does the person they are buying from have clear title to those resources? Until these issues are resolved, many opportuni ties will go unmet.

If CIS citizens are to respond to the myriad opportunities around them, some conditions are critical.Private ownership and freedom of contract must be allowed. Without these conditions, indi viduals who perceive better ways to do things and better uses for existing resources will be unable to gain control of property or enter into profitable agreements with others. Entrepreneurs must also 213 An entrepreneursellingMatrioshkadolls and othersouvenirson Arbat Streetin Moscow. have the assurance that their property rights will be protected from predatory activity by other citi zens and from state expropriation. Confiscatory taxation must not remove most of the profits. A stable and convertible currency would facilitate exchange. But one should not be too pessimistic. Suppose a factory in Ukraine depends on a part manufactured 1,000 miles away in Uzbekistan; deliveries are sporadic and quality is low.This pro vides an opportunity for a Ukrainian entrepreneur who learns the specifications for the parts and opens a small operation nearby. He-or she-ean earn profits by becoming a reliable supplier.

Is wheat disintegrating in the fields of Belarus while there is a shortage of bread in Moscow? If so, anyone with a truck can profit by delivering grain to a miller near Moscow. Does a factory in Georgia produce little of val ue? A competing, more efficient factory can hire away its workers by offering greater wages. With even minimal progress toward the intro duction of property rights, the people's mood could shift dramatically. Perhaps only a small frac tion of the CIS population will be optimistic entrepreneurs at first, but others will observe and learn. Many who try to capture the new opportu nities willfail, but some willsucceed, and their suc cess will encourage others. The people who seem to Westerners to be apathetic wards of the state may soon be ablaze with energy and zeal. Oppor tunity knocks! D 214 The Separationof Churchand State by Ralph A. Raimi M y father,Jacob,arrivedin this country as an immigrant in 1923. He would have come here earlier, but was drafted for service in the Polish army in 1919 and, under the banner of Marshal Pilsudski, helped fight Poland's successful war against Trotsky and the Communists. In America he joined his wife and son, who had preceded him. He settled in Detroit and opened a dry-goods store, begot two more sons (myself the middle of the three), thrived, and prospered. He died last summer, at the age of 92 years, the seventh after the death of his faithful wife.