This book covers a wide variety of aspects of transition in Central and Southeast Europe and the CIS, including the socialist legacy, privatization and growth, skills, and banking reforms. It also covers the evolution of the global economy beyond transition, looking at complexity, risk management, the optimal transition path, and globalization.

Introduction; S.Estrin, G.Kolodko & M.Uvalic PART I: THE SOCIALIST LEGACY The Rise and Fall of Socialist Planning; M.Ellman Life Cycle of the Centrally Planned Economy: Why Soviet Growth Rates Peaked in the 1950s; V.Popov Are Transition Economies Normal Developing Countries? The Burden of the Socialist Past; M.Keren & G.Ofer PART II: TRANSITION: FROM SOCIALISM TO CAPITALISM Growth, Initial Conditions and, Law and Speed of Privatization in Transition Countries: 11 Years Later; S.Godoy & J.E.Stiglitz Skills and the Transition; S.Commander Financial Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: A Note; M.de Cecco Investment, Wages and Corporate Governance During the Transition: Evidence from Slovenian Firms; J.Prasnikar & J.Svejnar How Different is Serbia?; M.Uvalic The Search for Identity: Where is Russia Heading?; P.Desai The Effects of Privatization on Company Performance in Belarus; S.Estrin, M.Bakanova, I.Pelipas & S.Pukovich PART III: BEYOND TRANSITION Complexity and Systemic Failure; V.Tanzi Risk Management and Systemic Risk; J.Eatwell Optimal Transition Trajectories?; L.Csaba The Great Post-Communist Change and Uncertain Future of the World; G.W.Kolodko