Analysis of the events that took place after the fall of the Wall in 1989 in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. At this point in time, these countries set forth on a dramatic transformation of their economies, from a centrally-planned with a huge hierarchy directing most economic activity, into market economies. Sweeping reforms are carried out, including privatization of large numbers of state-owned companies, development of new legal systems and creation of new financial institutions. The course studies the very challenging undertaking task of creating new market economies from scratch, a process which is still not complete fifteen years later.