Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia [Hardcover]

Andrei Shleifer (Author), Daniel Treisman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2000

Recent commentators on Russia's economic reforms have almost uniformly declared them a disappointing and avoidable -- failure. In this book, two American scholars take a new and more balanced look at the country's attempts to build capitalism on the ruins of Soviet central planning. They show how and why the Russian reforms achieved remarkable breakthroughs in some areas but came undone in others. Unlike Eastern European countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic, to which it is often compared, Russia is a federal, ethnically diverse, industrial giant with an economy heavily oriented toward raw materials extraction. The political obstacles it faced in designing reforms were incomparably greater.Shleifer and Treisman tell how Russia's leaders, navigating in uncharted economic terrain, managed to find a path around some of these obstacles. In successful episodes, central reformers devised a strategy to win over some key opponents, while dividing and marginalizing others. Such political tactics made possible the rapid privatization of 14,000 state enterprises in 1992-1994 and the defeat of inflation in 1995. But failure to outmaneuver the new oligarchs and regional governors after 1996 undermined reformers' attempts to collect taxes and clean up the bureaucracy that has stifled business growth.Renewing a strain of analysis that runs from Machiavelli to Hirschman, the authors reach conclusions about political strategies that have important implications for other reformers. They draw on their extensive knowledge of the country and recent experience as advisors to Russian policymakers. Written in an accessible style, the book should appeal to economists, political scientists, policymakers, businesspeople, and all those interested in Russian politics or economics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This interesting book makes a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about Russian reforms." - Itzhak Goldberg and Lev Freinkman, Finance and Development --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Andrei Shleifer is Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

Daniel Treisman is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 233 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (January 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262194341
• ISBN-13: 978-0262194341
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,007,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perceptive Analysis, March 19, 2000

By 

Prateek Goorha (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia (Hardcover)

In a very readable book the authors provide an excellent account of fiscal federalism in Russia. They talk about the stagnation the Russian economy faces and provide a very valid hypothesis for its cause in Russia's taxation system - what many others have previously given scant attention to. This book will appeal to economists, political scientists, and anyone else interested in Russia today.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommendation for this book:, April 28, 2000

By 

Ashley Sides (Euless, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia (Hardcover)

Without a Map is a good place to start learning about Russian economic reform in the 1990's. It is concise and thorough, and covers a lot of ground. As a result, it tends to be somewhat general, when one might be interested in specific details of reforms, but it's a very solid overview. It is not a book for just anyone, but will fascinate anybody who has an interest in the Russian economy or in economics in general. It is a perfect complement to Privatizing Russia, also co-authored by Schleifer.

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, good context, but somewhast repetitive, March 11, 2005

By 

Snakeyes (Hagerstown, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia (Hardcover)

This book is a good source on Russian economic reform in the early to mid 1990's. Great for anyone with an interest in Russia's transition from socialism to capitalism. My only quarrel with the book is that it seems to be a bit repetitive. Other then that, great book.