Emerging from Communism: Lessons from Russia, China, and Eastern Europe

Issues addressed include inflation, privatization, enterprise restructuring, banking reform and labor market policy, and the role of decentralization in China’s growth.The collapse of communism in Europe was one of the most important world events since the end of World War II. Although China has taken major steps in the direction of capitalism, in Eastern Europe, China, and Central Asia the transformation has been only partly accomplished; in Cuba and North Korea it has not even begun. In Eastern Europe and Russia, economic reforms were accompanied by huge falls in output, followed by some recovery in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. By contrast, in China output has grown steadily at a rate never seen in Europe. If free markets and private ownership are meant to increase economic opportunity and welfare, why has their introduction been accompanied by such pain in Eastern Europe and Russia? The contributors to this book believe that future reform strategies in any country depend on understanding what has occurred in these emerging economies so far. Issues addressed include inflation, privatization, enterprise restructuring, banking reform and labor market policy, and the role of decentralization in China’s growth.ContributorsPeter Boone, Saul Estrin, Stanislaw Gomulka, Jacob Hørder, Richard Jackman, Richard Layard, Sweder Van Wijnbergen, Wing Thye Woo, Chengang Xu, Juzhong Zhuang