Comparative economics in a transforming world economy / by J. Barkley Rosser and Marina Rosser

The transformation of the world economy is in turn transforming the field of comparative economics. The classic confrontation of capitalism and socialism has largely dissolved with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, its empire, and the end of the Cold War. Most of the formerly socialist economies, even those that remain ruled by Communist Parties such as the Peoples' Republic of China, are now in various transitions towards mostly market forms of eco nomic systems. New forms arise out of these processes and other forms arise on the world scene such as the Islamic economy.

This book seeks to be a part of this transformation of the field of com parative economics. Just as the economies in transition continue to retain el ements of their old systems, so this book retains elements of the old comparative economics," with a comparison of the theory and practice of market capitalism and command socialism as a central organizing feature. Although only a few economies in the world still practice command socialism, study of it reveals the background of the economies involved in attempting transitions, and also highlights important aspects of market capitalist econo mies. Thus one aspect of this book which is old and new at the same time is the comparison of the North and South Korean economies presented in Chapter 18-a case not presented in any previous comparative economics book.