Mr. Gorbachev's grip remained firm as he liberated the press, sponsored the election of a quasi-democratic parliament, experimented with the sclerotic economy and began negotiating an end to the cold war.

This is the only way to bring down long-term interest rates and stimulate Europe's sclerotic economies.

Germany capped a nine-month campaign to unclog its sclerotic economy on Friday, as both houses of the Parliament voted to adopt a package of tax cuts and looser employment laws.

The drama at the Bombay Stock Exchange unfolded after the finance minister, Yashwant Singh, announced a government budget on Feb. 28 that won praise by pledging to overhaul the sclerotic economy.

It was the latest in a string of defeats, and it underscored the depth of hostility that many Germans feel for Mr. Schröder's campaign to overhaul the country's sclerotic economy.

Poland too began the decade saddled with paltry living standards bequeathed by a sclerotic, centrally controlled economy run by discredited Communists.

Robotron was once the No. 1 electronics company in the Eastern bloc, but when East Germany's sclerotic economy collapsed, it took Robotron with it.

To an enterprising cynic, the patches might have seemed to offer an opportunity for profit, especially among people raised in a country where such sidelines were necessary to survive a sclerotic economy.

Fourthly, other key members of the eurozone, namely Italy and Germany, are experiencing problems with over-expensive social systems and sclerotic economies, and they can expect structural reforms that will doubtless be tough.

Neither the U.S. Congress nor Wall Street will invest in peace with Syria without Syria reforming its sclerotic economy.