In this paper we examine four main kinds of reason for Gaidar's team failure in Russia: 1) problems arising from the process of designing the programme; 2) failures of implementation; 3) problems arising from Russia's economic structure; 4) problems arising from Russia's political structure.

This paper discusses the key hypotheses which Joseph Stiglitz proposed, in his wide-ranging critique of the “Washington Consensus”, with regard to transition reforms and economic policies in China and Russia. The primary purpose is to evaluate the Stiglitz perspective in the light of...

The rejoinder by the US economists Joseph Stiglitz and David Ellerman (S and E) is welcome above all as a clear acknowledgement that our interpretation of what we called the "Stiglitz Perspective" (but what we apparently should now call the "Stiglitz-Ellerman Perspective") is correct. However, S...

This paper discusses the key hypotheses which Joseph Stiglitz proposed, in his wide-ranging critique of the ''Washington Consensus'', with regard to transition reforms and economic polices in China and Russia. The primary purpose is to evaluate the Stiglitz perspective in the light of empirical...

In this paper we examine four main kinds of reason for Gaidar's team failure in Russia: 1) problems arising from the process of designing the programme; 2) failures of implementation; 3) problems arising from Russia's economic structure; 4) problems arising from Russia's political structure

The Eastern Enlargement of the EU will not be complete until the new member states join the EMU. Economic and political economy arguments point to fast EMU accession of new member states. Failure to do so will create a two speed Europe, a fundamental change in the economic and political...

The arguments for fiscal as well as monetary rules in a monetary union aiming at low inflation, the main weaknesses in the Stability and Growth Pact, and proposals for its reform are reviewed. Our own proposal for reforming the SGP is put forward: a requirement for eurozone Member States to...

This article discusses among others the Pazos-Simonsen Mechanism - short term wage controls as a means of abrogating existing wage contracts, short serm wage controls as a mechanism for co-ordinating expectations and short term wage controls in semi-heterodox stabilization programmes as well as...

The paper first considers why central European countries wish to join EMU soon. The main reasons are the risk of macroeconomic instability they face outside the euro zone if they wish to grow quickly. At the same time, Central Europe is highly integrated as regards trade with EMU, so it is...

The collapse of communism faced Poland and other former Soviet bloc countries with the need for a massive “institutional refit”, as regards both economic and political institutions. This paper describes where some of the key new institutions were derived from (either in the form of...