I heard years ago a wonderful story about Yugoslavia of old from a friend in Motovun. Because it was kind of ticklish, I did not jot it down at once. Its time has come, though. My friend used to work in a large company in Istria that made all sorts of electronic equipment, including many gadgets popular at the time. He was in the company’s management, too. As his story goes, they imported long steel pipes from West Germany. Using advanced technology, they cut the pipes in half. And then they exported them to East Germany. As my friend was telling me this story, he could not stop giggling. Obviously enough, it was a scam typical of Yugoslavia at the time. As there could be no trade between West and East Germany, an intermediary was needed. To make things legal by international standards, the product was not only transported between the three countries, but it was also worked over. Value was added to it, that is. As I like to say, Tito was a pro at the import-export game (“The Greatest Travelling Salesman of All Times,” October 29, 2010). In his time, the communist east and capitalist west needed someone just like him. And he delivered to everyone’s applause for many years. Even after his death, Yugoslavia prospered with untold imports and exports of this ilk for an entire decade.