Classification of Countries

Since the break-up of the Soviet block at the end of the 1980s, the so-called transition economies have faced the task of moving from a centrally-planned system of resource allocation towards a more market-oriented approach. This has proved a challenging and difficult period for the countries concerned, both those that were part of the Soviet Union and other countries in Eastern Europe that were allies and trading partners.

To outside observes, it has sometimes been difficult to know how to classify these countries. In the days of the Cold War, there seemed to be three groupings in the word. There was a group of industrial market economies that had reached a high level of “development” – this was the “First World”. Then there was the Soviet block, which comprised the countries of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. There shared a history that overlapped with countries in Western Europe, but had taken such a different path since 1917. This was the “Second World”. And then there was the rest – the “Third World”, most of which had remained undeveloped.

The collapse of the Second World led to classification problems. The term “Third world” no longer made sense.

At present the countries of the world are usually classified into three major groups: advanced economies, developing countries and countries in the transition.

B. Translate the text from Russian into English.

Экономика стран переходного периода характеризуется рядом закономерностей, независимо от уровня их развития. Переход к рыночной экономике сопровождается неизбежными трудностями как для экономики страны, так и для ее населения. Наблюдается очень резкий спад промышленного производства, ведущий к безработице.

В этих условиях государство должно взять курс на активную стабилизацию: проведение умеренно жесткой финансовой политики, обуздание инфляции экономическими методами, выборочная поддержка наиболее перспективных отраслей экономики.