Eastern Europe's socialist economies opted for different paths to market liberalization.
protectionism
The ongoing debate over the three Canadian telecommunications giants and the possibility of U.S-based Verizon entering the Canadian market has once again brought consumer issues to the fore.
I shall beg off addressing that particular issue it has been covered in detail by others, but the fact so many have passionate views is a reminder that consumer issues matter. This is unsurprising, given that almost everyone outside of some fellow in a remote cabin in North Korea is a consumer. Almost everyone then has an interest in such pocketbook issues.
When I lived in the idyllic city of Victoria, a photocopier salesman once tried to lease me one of his machines by noting mine was made in Japan (while his was manufactured in Canada). He told me I should lease the latter and not the former to support Canadian jobs.
The salesman couldn't have known this, but I'd spent two years in the land of the rising sun, so he lost me at 'Japan.' I like it when my fellow Canadians have jobs; I also like it when my friends in Japan are employed.