Synopses & Reviews
An analysis of the transition from socialism to capitalism from the perspective of the scholar, whose Economics of Shortage (1980) made him the most influential critic of the political economy of socialism from within the Soviet block. The eight essays in the book are connected by the association of four expressions that cover four phenomena of great and comprehensive importance: socialism, capitalism, democracy, and regime change. Capitalism has a history of several hundred years, while the socialist regime existed only for a few decades. But this antagonism was central to the history of the twentieth century. It put its stamp on political thinking, on foreign policy, and on some appallingly destructive armed conflicts. These had great secondary influence on each country's economic development and the standard of living and disposition of its inhabitants. None of the studies is confined to one country - not to Hungary or to any other. Each tries to embrace the problems common to greater units. However, the greater units is not the same in each study. One may deal with the capitalist or socialist system in general, another with all the post-socialist countries, and a third with the East Central European region.
Synopsis
Eight essays connected by various common strands. The most important one is the community of the main subject-matter: socialism, capitalism, democracy, change of system. These four expressions cover four phenomena of great and comprehensive importance. Each piece in the book deals with these and the connections between them.