European University Institute Library

How capitalism was built, the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, Anders Åslund

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-400) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

How capitalism was built

bibliography

794037157

Anders Åslund

the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia

"Anders Åslund is known for making bold predictions, which initially arouse controversy but become common wisdom a few years later. He foresaw the collapse of the Soviet Union in his book Gorbachev's Struggle for Economic Reform (1989). He depicted the success of Russia's market transformation in How Russia Became a Market Economy (1995), when others saw little but chaos. After Russia's financial crisis of 1998, ijlund insisted that Russia had no choice but to adjust to the world market (Building Capitalism, 2002), although most observers declared the market economic experiment a failure. Why did not Russia choose Chinese gradual reforms? Why are the former Soviet countries growing much faster than the Central European economies? How did the oligarchs arise? Where are the postcommunist countries heading? These are just some of the questions answered in his new book How Capitalism Was Built which tells the story how all but three of twenty-one former communist countries were transformed into market economies from 1989 to 2011, but less than half of them became democracies. Anybody who wants to understand the often confusing dramas unfolding in the region and to obtain an early insight into the future will find this book useful and intellectually stimulating"--provided by publisher

Introduction : a world transformed. -- 1. Communism and its demise. -- 2. Radical reform versus gradualism. -- 3. Output : from slump to recovery and boom. -- 4. Liberalization : the creation of a market economy. -- 5. From hyperinflation to financial stability. -- 6. Privatization : the establishment of private property rights. -- 7. The social system. -- 8. The politics of transition. -- 9. From crime toward law. -- 10. The importance of the European Union. -- 11. The global financial crisis, 2007-2012. -- Conclusions : a world transformed