Protectionism or Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy

Protectionism

Author: Jagdish N Bhagwati

A leading international economist looks at many of the key issues of trade policy now confronting the United States and the world in this timely book. Jagdish Bhagwati provides a clear, informative, and witty analysis of the protection debate and offers a prescription for reform

Jagdish Bhagwati is Arthur Lehman Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Book review: Foods of Sicily and Sardinia and the Smaller Islands or Diabetes Menu Cookbook

Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy

Author: J Barkley Rosser

This second edition of an innovative undergraduate text offers an approach to understanding different economic systems that reflects both recent transformations in the world economy and recent changes in the field of Comparative Economic Systems. The traditional way of teaching comparative economics, with its reliance on relatively simple dichotomies (private vs. state, planning vs. market) does not take into consideration the many variants and mixtures of economic systems that exist in the real world. The Rossers' introduction in the first edition of the concept of the "new traditional economy" -- the effort by a developing country to embed a modern economic system into a traditional culture, usually religious -- presented a new way to look at developing economies. Their innovative examination of Iran and its effort to develop a "revolutionary Islamic economy" as an alternative to market capitalism illustrates the use of this new tool in comparative economics.

After a four-chapter theoretical and historical overview, the book focuses on fifteen country studies, organized by economic system. The chapters on advanced market capitalism examine the economies of the United States (a chapter new to this edition) Japan, France, Sweden, and Germany. The chapters examining transition in former socialist economies discuss Russia, the former Soviet Republics, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia (including expanded treatment of the most successful transition economy, that of Slovenia), and China. The chapters in the final section of the book discuss "alternative paths" taken by the developing economies of Iran, India (its complex mix of socialism, capitalism, andtradition is examined in a chapter new to this edition), Mexico, and South and North Korea. The book concludes with a look at future trends that will continue to transform the world economy.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
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