The transition from socialism: An overview from a political economy perspective

This paper provides an overview from a political-economy perspective of the issues that arise in the transition from socialism. The paper is divided into 12 sections which respectively consider (1) reasons for adopting a political-economy perspective on the transition, (2) explanations of why socialism failed when it did, (3) the transition from the perspective of the socialist factory, (4) proposals for the third way of market socialism, (5) price liberalization and supply responses, (6) privatization, (7) banks and the financial sector, (8) private sector development, (9) the transition from socialist international trade, (10) public finance and expenditure in the transition, (11) social consequences and effects on income distribution, and (12) why the transition does not move faster.