Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy, third edition

by J. Barkley Rosser Jr., Marina V. Rosser

Overview

An approach to comparative economic systems that avoids simple dichotomies to examine a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, with updated country case studies.

Comparative economics, with its traditional dichotomies of socialism versus capitalism, private versus state, and planning versus market, is changing. This innovative textbook offers a new approach to understanding different economic systems that reflects both recent transformations in the world economy and recent changes in the field.This new edition examines a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, many of which reflect deep roots in countries' cultures and histories.

The book has been updated and revised throughout, with new material in both the historical overview and the country case studies. It offers a broad survey of economic systems, then looks separately at market capitalism, Marxism and socialism, and “new traditional economies” (with an emphasis on the role of religions, Islam in particular, in economic systems). It presents case studies of advanced capitalist nations, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, and Germany; alternative paths in the transition from socialist to market economies taken by such countries as Russia, the former Soviet republics, Poland, China, and the two Koreas; and developing countries, including India, Iran, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. The new chapters on Brazil and South Africa complete the book's coverage of all five BRICS nations; the chapter on South Africa extends the book's comparative treatment to another continent. The chapter on Brazil with its account of the role of the Amazon rain forest as a great carbon sink expands the coverage of global environmental and sustainability issues. Each chapter ends with discussion questions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262344210
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	01/26/2018
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	744
Sales rank:	482,838
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., is Professor of Economics at James Madison University.

Marina V. Rosser is Professor of Economics at James Madison University.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
I	Overview of Comparative Economics	1
1	How Do We Compare Economies?	3
2	The Theory and Practice of Market Capitalism	23
3	The Theory and History of Marxism and Socialism	53
4	Islamic Economics and the Economics of Other Religions	85
II	Varieties of Advanced Market Capitalism	113
5	The United States of America: The Market Capitalist Leader	115
6	Japan: A Planned Market Economy with Traditional Elements	145
7	Whither Indicative Planning? The Case of France	179
8	Sweden: Crisis and Reform of the Social Market Welfare State	203
9	The Unification of Germany and the Unification of Europe	231
III	Variants of Transition Among Former Socialist Economies	262
10	The Former Soviet Union: The Myth and Reality of the Command Economy and Russia's Economic Transition	265
11	Alternative Paths of Transition in the Former Soviet Union	301
12	Poland: The Peril and Promise of Shock Therapy	337
13	Hungary: Gradualism and the First Successful Completed Transition?	363
14	Worker-Managed Market Socialism: The Collapse of Yugoslavia and the Success of Slovenia	389
15	China's Socialist Market Economy: The Sleeping Giant Wakes	417
IV	Alternative Paths Among Developing Economies	450
16	India: The Elephant Walks	453
17	Iran: The Struggle for a New Traditional Islamic Economy	487
18	Revolution and Reform in the Mexican Economy	515
19	North and South Korea: The Lingering Shadow of the Cold War	543
20	Evolving Trends of the Transforming World Economy	575
	Glossary	589
	Index	617

What People are Saying About This

Endorsement

This text is an outstanding achievement in a field that has been in flux since the epochal changes in Russia and Eastern Europe. The authors demonstrate the continuing relevance of the comparative-systems approach by illustrating the extraordinary diversity in contemporary societies, from the market socialism of China to the worker-managed socialism of Slovenia to the new social arrangements in 'traditional' societies such as Iran. This is an important text that greatly improves the choices for systems courses.

—Satyananda J. Gabriel, Department of Economics, Mount Holyoke College

From the Publisher

Rosser and Rosser's Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy is the go-to text for those of us in the field of comparative economics. Now in its third edition, it continues to adapt and adjust as the world is transforming, and yet retains the enduring lessons for those who want to engage in the comparative systems analysis. Much has happened since 1989, let alone since 1917, and Rosser and Rosser's text guides us through the bewildering and amazing world of the theory and practice of capitalism, socialism, and other -isms as well as the real-existing political, economic, and social experiences in the countries West, East, North, and South. Just a brilliant text full of insight and wisdom from all we have learned over time and across countries.

—Peter Boettke, University Professor of Economics & Philosophy, George Mason University

This book provides an incredibly broad and innovative comparative systems view of market economic systems, socialist systems, and Islamic and other economies based on religious principles. Rosser and Rosser show how history shapes fundamental institutions that allocate resources, protect property rights and enforce contracts. And they employ modern economic theory to explain how those diverse economic institutions deal with economic problems and can productively evolve or fail to move forward. This is an ideal text for an advanced undergraduate or masters level graduate course in comparative systems and international affairs.

—Daniel Berkowitz, Professor of Economics, University of Pittsburgh and co-managing editor of the Journal of Comparative Economics, 2007-2016