European socialist economies were commonly characterized by low or negligible open inflation, full employment, and stable relative prices and real incomes. Associated features were significant repressed or hidden inflation and disequilibria in goods markets. More recently, as economic and political reform has advanced, attention has shifted to translating repressed into open inflation. Where such reforms have proceeded against a background of a monetary overhang, the implications of that overhang for demand-side policies have figured prominently. In all instances, however, the key underlying issue has been the transmission mechanism for inflation once the initial impulse associated with price liberalization has been imparted. Although it is widely recognized that major price liberalization has to be central to any stabilization, there is considerable debate concernig the optimal pace and the dynamic effects of price reforms. The arguments for liberalization turn on the importance of achieving a rational, relative price structure that can eliminate imbalances in the goods market while enabling allocative efficiency gains. Yet, as recent experience in Eastern Europe testifies, a variety of price liberalization schemes have involved significant jumps in the price level that translate into acceleration in the rate of increase of prices. In addition, developments on the real side have been seriously adverse, with large declines in recorded output. There is further evidence of an initially slow, but accelerating, increase in the rate of open unemployment. The articles in this symposium concentrate on the problem of inflation in socialist economies in transition. Given recent experience in several reforming socialist economies with high inflation, Dornbusch draws out the main comparative lessons from other high-inflationary experiences, particularly in Latin America. Stabilizing inflation requires fiscal correction and reforms to the tax system. There is commonly a role for incomes policy in achieving a more rapid and coordinated disinflation, but only as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, budget balancing.