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Book Review

Book Review Out of the Red: Building capitalism and democracy in postcommunist Europe M. A. Orenstein Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2001, pp.166 ISBN 0‐472‐06746‐X Price: $24.95 It is always inspiring to see reality from the other side. Orenstein's book offers us exactly this kind of view of the transformation. He concentrates mainly on two countries – the Czech Republic and Poland – and compares economic strategies and changes in these strategies during the 1990s. Orenstein focuses particularly on the relationship between economic policy and democracy during the transition process. The structure of the book is clear – at the beginning the author describes the theory of the reforms, then their introduction in Poland and in the Czech Republic, next is a special example of privatization and in the final part he underpins his results with a theory of alternation in democracy. In the first chapter Orenstein analyses the theory that lay behind the neoliberal approach to economic transition. He notes the impact of the so‐called ‘Washington consensus’ on the reformers and the cornerstones of the radical strategy – stabilization, liberalization and privatization, then reminds us that the authors of the reforms were not simply orthodox liberals, since http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Economics of Transition and Institutional Change Wiley

Book Review

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
2577-6975
eISSN
2577-6983
DOI
10.1111/1468-0351.00158
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Out of the Red: Building capitalism and democracy in postcommunist Europe M. A. Orenstein Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2001, pp.166 ISBN 0‐472‐06746‐X Price: $24.95 It is always inspiring to see reality from the other side. Orenstein's book offers us exactly this kind of view of the transformation. He concentrates mainly on two countries – the Czech Republic and Poland – and compares economic strategies and changes in these strategies during the 1990s. Orenstein focuses particularly on the relationship between economic policy and democracy during the transition process. The structure of the book is clear – at the beginning the author describes the theory of the reforms, then their introduction in Poland and in the Czech Republic, next is a special example of privatization and in the final part he underpins his results with a theory of alternation in democracy. In the first chapter Orenstein analyses the theory that lay behind the neoliberal approach to economic transition. He notes the impact of the so‐called ‘Washington consensus’ on the reformers and the cornerstones of the radical strategy – stabilization, liberalization and privatization, then reminds us that the authors of the reforms were not simply orthodox liberals, since

Journal

Economics of Transition and Institutional Change – Wiley

Published: Sep 1, 2003

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