The New Russia
Transition Gone Awry
Published on 1. February 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
480 pages
978-0-8047-4165-1 (ISBN)
Description
This book delivers an unpopular message: the West has played a pivotal role in the Russian economic disaster of the 1990s. Western advisors, including the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Treasury, applied a narrow conception of economics that pushed Russia, after more than seventy years of communism, toward another failed utopia.
The twenty-six contributions to this book are divided into three parts: theory, evidence, and policy. Part One directly challenges orthodox economic theory for obscuring the necessary role of government in creating and sustaining a market system and features essays by three Nobel laureates in economics-Kenneth J. Arrow, Lawrence R. Klein, and James Tobin. Part Two describes the dimensions of the economic crisis in Russia and presents a Russian perspective on the failure of shock therapy. Part Three presents policy recommendations, with special attention given to improving the integrity and administrative competence of the Russian government.
The twenty-six contributions to this book are divided into three parts: theory, evidence, and policy. Part One directly challenges orthodox economic theory for obscuring the necessary role of government in creating and sustaining a market system and features essays by three Nobel laureates in economics-Kenneth J. Arrow, Lawrence R. Klein, and James Tobin. Part Two describes the dimensions of the economic crisis in Russia and presents a Russian perspective on the failure of shock therapy. Part Three presents policy recommendations, with special attention given to improving the integrity and administrative competence of the Russian government.
Reviews / Votes
"No writing or oratory in history has been more replete with bad advice than that given Russia in the last decade. Here, for a change, is something very good-the best, in fact, that truly competent and responsible American and Russian scholars have to offer. I strongly recommend it."-John Kenneth Galbraith "A searching critique of the strategy favored in the West . . . it contributes fresh perspectives on the much debated question concerning the 'big bang' versus 'gradualism' in communist economic transformation."-Abram Bergson, Harvard University "This admirable work has contributions from an impressive group of specialists who cover the topic comprehensively. Balanced, reasonable transitions in various economic sectors are urged persuasively and in some cases even eloquently. The book has the potential for making a significant impact."-Ralph T. Fisher, Jr., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign "[An] excellent, well-organized, and useful collection about economic reform in postcommunist Russia. . . . The strength of The New Russia lies in the editors' thoughtful and thematic organization of the material, the consistency of argumentation applied to a panoply of economic issues, the depth and rigor of analysis throughout, and the prescription for recovery in the 'Reform Agenda' and 'Call for Action.'"-Slavic ReviewMore details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
635 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8047-4165-1 (9780804741651)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Lawrence R. Klein, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1980, is Benjamin Franklin Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his many books is The Economics of Supply and Demand. Marshall Pomer is President of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute, Santa Cruz, California. He is the author of Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in the United States: A Segmentation Perspective.
Content
Introduction Part I. Perspective: 1. Economic transition: speed and scope 2. What do we economists know now about the transition to a market system? 3. The transition's initial years 4. Privatization and criminalization 5. Where is Russia now? 6. Economic efficiency and political pressures 7. A roundtable discussion Part II. Proposals: 8. Overall agenda for reform 9. Public wealth funds 10. Economic reintegration of the Commonwealth of Independent States 11. Import tariffs 12. Taxation of mineral wealth 13. Reform of the agricultural sector 14. Reform of the coal industry.