The Fiscal Policy Dimension: Implicit Taxes

Abstract

This chapter examines housing policies in socialist economies. While the emphasis is on the Hungarian experience, the questions under investigation also apply to other reforming and post-socialist countries. All the reforming economies are confronted with many of the same basic questions; for example, how can the paradox of a very costly housing-subsidy system be reconciled with the housing shortages that characterize most of the reforming economies; how much do housing subsidies actually cost; and finally, how do housing policies of reformed socialist systems compare with those of market economies?