From Triumph to Crisis
Neoliberal Economic Reform in Postcommunist Countries

Explains the surprising endurance of neoliberal policymaking over two decades in post-Communist countries, from 1989–2008, and its decline after the financial crash.

Hilary Appel (Author), Mitchell A. Orenstein (Author)

9781108422291, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 May 2018

254 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.7 cm, 0.47 kg

'These two authors are excellent stewards through this retrospective of the postcommunist transition process and the relevant literature, guiding us through the policy laboratories of Eastern European countries since the fall of the Berlin Wall.' Julia Gray, Perspectives on Politics

The postcommunist countries were amongst the most fervent and committed adopters of neoliberal economic reforms. Not only did they manage to overcome the anticipated domestic opposition to 'shock therapy' and Washington Consensus reforms, but many fulfilled the membership requirements of the European Union and even adopted avant-garde neoliberal reforms like the flat tax and pension privatization. Neoliberalism in the postcommunist countries went farther and lasted longer than expected, but why? Unlike pre-existing theories based on domestic political-economic struggles, this book focuses on the imperatives of re-insertion into the international economy. Appel and Orenstein show how countries engaged in 'competitive signaling', enacting reforms in order to attract foreign investment. This signaling process explains the endurance and intensification of neoliberal reform in these countries for almost two decades, from 1989–2008, and its decline thereafter, when inflows of capital into the region suddenly dried up. This book will interest students of political economy and Eastern European and Eurasian politics.

1. Triumph and crisis of neoliberalism
2. First phase: the Washington Consensus
3. Second phase: Europeanization
4. Third phase: avant-garde neoliberalism
5. Competitive signaling and foreign direct investment
6. The crisis of neoliberalism
7. Revising transition theory.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Central government policies [JPQB], Marxism & Communism [JPFC], Political ideologies [JPF]