One of the earliest contributions to this debate is the book Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions, which has drawn wide attention even in the Czech Republic, notably in the newspaper Salon Práva. Together with its authors Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein, US-American researchers, we are going to discuss why the latest development in the post-communist space can be labeled prosperity and decline at the same time and what are the political consequences of it for today.