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PSC 256
Central European Political Economy
The class PSC 256 on Central European Political Economy will focus mainly
on the economic aspects of the post-communist transition to a market economy
and democracy as well as on the implications of ongoing globalization
for the evolution of post-communist political, social and economic system.
Special attention will be given to these processes in the Central European
countries, however they will be considered within the framework of comparative
analysis with the experiences of Russia and China, on the one hand, and
other emerging markets, on the other hand. The post-communist transition is a historical event leading from a centrally planned system to an open market economy, political democracy and civic society. The ongoing political, social, cultural and economic changes are of paramount importance not only for the countries directly engaged in these complex transformations, but for their partners worldwide as well. What conflict of interest on the international scale it can imply and what is the international political economy of the mutual relations between the rich countries and post-communist emerging economies and societies? Transition is a gradual process, consisting of liberalization and stabilization, institution building and microeconomic restructuring. It takes time and is costly, both in financial and social terms. However, the time span necessary for successful market transformation can be limited and the costs can be mitigated, if only transition strategies are designed properly. The post-communist countries are not yet on the path of durable growth, nor sustainable development. So far, only a few transitional economies have been able to overcome the pre-transition level of production and consumption, while the majority has been involved, for several years, in the great transitional depression. What political and economic forces are behind severe contraction and failures in some countries and what are the political institutions, economic policies and business strategies behind the successful developments elsewhere? The crucial issue deals with the compatibility of democratization and marketization. Do they facilitate each other, or are these two processes involved in some contradictions? Is the emerging democracy enhancing the emerging market, or making it more difficult? Hence, does democratization help the shift towards recovery and growth? What is the political economy of this relationship and what we have learned already in the last 15 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall? What works and why and what fails and why in the transition and the development policies – and these are two different set of polices, which suppose to be coordinated in a proper way – in the post-communist countries? What are the political implications of the economic results of transition at the middle of the decade of 2000s? What ought to be done to follow the successful Polish transition? And what to do to counteract the Russian crisis syndrome? Is it over or not yet? What are the ends and the means of the policy to move from stabilization to growth? How to sustain high rate of growth after transitional contraction? How to catch-up with advanced economies in the long run during the 21st century? How to take the irreversible process of globalization to the advantage of faster growth of transition economies? These are the fundamental questions that are going to be addressed during the seminar.
1. Introduction and overview (September 7th).
III. Essential readings
2. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2001). Globalization and Catching-up in Transition Economies, Rochester, NY and Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: University of Rochester Press. 3. Nuti, D. Mario (2001). Not ‘just another accession’, Distinguished
Lectures Series, No. 3, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and
Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw 4. Douglass C. North (2002). Understanding Economic Change and Economic
Growth, Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 7, Leon Kozminski Academy of
Entrepreneurship and Management, Warsaw 5. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2002). Globalization and Its Discontents, New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, chapter 5, Who Lost Russia?, pp. 133-65. 6. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2004), Institutions, Policies and Growth, TIGER
Working Paper Series, No. 56 (June), Transformation, Integration and Globalization
Economic Research at the Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and
Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw
1. Final paper of about 5 pages (about 2,500 words) due by October 5th, 2004. 2. The grade will be based 65 percent on the final paper and 35 percent on constructive class participation.
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