Reference Series on International Issues: The Lost Giant

Author: Jerry F. Hough (USA); Translated by Xu Kui et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: For Russia, the 1990s were a decade of social, political, and economic turmoil. Although it was claimed that Russia would quickly achieve a fully market economy, this former superpower plunged into an economic depression, with vast assets being recklessly plundered by oligarchs and tycoons close to the government. After people began to see through the absurd optimism of certain world-famous economists regarding Russia's economic reforms, some scholars sought to determine who should bear the blame for "losing" Russia. In this work, Jerry Hough insists that Russia's free-market economy was not ruined by individuals or a single force, but rather by a combination of factors, including the political influence exerted by Yeltsin on financial institutions and people's many mistaken assumptions about the free-market economy, which dimmed the star of Russian capitalism. This book requires readers to transcend conventional wisdom and approach the economic disaster of a country evolving along a unique path with fresh eyes... Jerry Hough is an expert on the Soviet Union and Russia and a professor of political science at Duke University in the United States. He has published works such as Democratization and Revolution in the Soviet Union and The Lost Giant.