China's rise, Russia's fall

One of the most profound events of the late twentieth century is the dramatic contrast of processes of 'reform' in China and the former USSR. This essay first illustrates that contrast in terms of available indicators of economic and social change in China since 1978 and the former USSR since 1989. It then considers explanations of this difference in fortunes. Criticising the 'transition orthodoxy' of neo-liberalism that emerged in the 1980s, the essay argues that China's success registers a rejection of that orthodoxy by careful movement towards a state guided market economy, harnessing individual entrepreneurial energies within a collectivist framework. Russia's acquiescence to the prescriptions of that orthodoxy, on the other hand, is a principal factor in explaining its rapid economic decline, with disastrous social consequences for the great majority of its citizens.