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	Foreword
	Changes in the Health Care and Pension System in the Context of Public Redistribution
	Tax Reform and Tax Policy Development

Foreword

In 1998 LFMI participated in a Reform Round Table project organised by the International Centre for Economic Growth (ICEG). The goal of the project was to facilitate the transformation of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union from the centrally planned to the market-driven model by making available information on the changes in the health care and pension system in the context of public redistribution.
As a result of this project, LFMI developed and disseminated two analytical studies. The first study looked at changes in the health care and pension system in the context of public redistribution. It laid out analysis of the 1995 pension reform (with special focus on the new model, modification of the pension formula, and an increase in the retirement age) and a compulsory health insurance system introduced under the 1997 reform. Finally, the paper presented alternative models for social security reform.
The other study investigated tax policy developments and the prospects for reform. The experience of Western nations in building and replacing tax systems was explored, identifying potential pitfalls for the nations in transit contemplating similar tax models. The aims of tax reform are defined along free market lines. LFMI gives a detailed account of the three forms of a tax burden - direct, indirect and hidden, and elucidates ways to lower them. LFMI presents principles of a pro-liberal tax system and a formula for building a tax system consistent with the said principles. Individual taxes are investigated in terms of their compliance with the principles in question as well as the goals of a pro-liberal tax reform.
The studies were translated into Russian and about one hundred copies were disseminated to policy research institutes and other NGOs around the world.

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