The Grand Experiment: Debating Shock Therapy, Transition Theory, And The East German Experience

This unique volume offers a wide-ranging debate on fundamental issues of economic transformation. The two authors present their contrasting views on the singularity and the comparative significance of the East German case; the theoretical lessons of shock therapy and holistic policy approaches; democratic, corporatist, and authoritarian governing structures in the reform process; and the role of myth and ideology in social change. Developing competing as well as complementary positions on problems of transformation, the authors advance our understanding of the conditions under which modern societies can be fundamentally restructured by design.