ABSTRACT
China has deeply integrated into the world economy while maintaining its own distinct economic model. Gradual marketization has facilitated the country’s economic ascent without wholesale assimilation to global neoliberalism. Yet, China’s approach to market creation was fiercely contested in the 1980s. The central question of the reform debate was not whether or not to reinstate markets but how to marketize. While this focus on the right approach to reform might appear like a technical quibble among economists, what was at stake is illustrated by the contrast between China’s rise and Russia’s economic collapse. China came close to implementing shock therapy of the type that proved disastrous in Russia. A big bang in price liberalization was the truly “shocking” element of shock therapy. This book shows how proposals for a big bang, grew out of exchanges with foreign economists and the World Bank, and were ultimately debunked at the critical crossroads of the 1980s. The Introduction elaborates on the focus, approach, and structure of the book and its contribution to the literature.
