The political economy of transition : coming to grips with history and methodology /

This valuable, voluminous treatise, presented by an acknowledged expert and prolific author on Eastern and Central Europe, provides the historical background of the economies in transition, the agenda for transformation (stabilization, liberalization, privatization, new institutional framework, social policies, and a new role for the government), and a discussion of integration into the global economy in general and the European Union in particular. The provision of specific information could have been profitably increased, and some statements and categories used are open to dispute. The book is short on statistics (covering problems up to 1996) and long on categorizations, enumerations, presentation of different conditions, scenarios, etc. Although clearly written with a compact concluding chapter, this work has so many different subtopics and subdivisions that it serves more as a reference source than a volume one can read and enjoy as a whole. Consequently, it will best be used as source material for classroom or expert debates on different aspects of the economics of transition. Supported by a 32-page bibliography. Research and professional collections. B. Mieczkowski; Ithaca College