International Political Economy and Socialism

Description

International Political Economy and Socialism is a revised and updated version of Professor Marie Lavigne's best seller Economie Internationale des Pays Socialistes. It is a most timely revision in which she presents a comprehensive view of the strategies and achievements in the international trade of the Soviet Union, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Marie Lavigne divides the book into three parts. In the first, she examines trading relations within the CMEA and with their partners in the South and the West. Part two focuses on the main categories of products which dominate these trading relationships - technology, energy and food. In the final section, Professor Lavigne analyses the management of international financial relations by countries which lack domestic monetary markets. She concludes by raising questions concerning the place these socialist economies occupy in today's world economy and the place they may occupy tomorrow.

"Lavigne's exposition is clear and concise, and Lambert's translation reads smoothly." Choice "She offers valuable insights about these [Russia and Eastern European] countries' complex sets of institutions, attitudes, and mechanisms and points out how important it is to understand their functioning in the period of transition from centrally planned to market economies. For these reasons, the book should be of interest to persons specializing in Soviet affairs, East and Central European studies, international and comparative economics, and international political economy." Perspectives on Political Science