Mixed Fortunes

Vladimir Popov is an Interregional Adviser in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations and professor emeritus at the New Economic School in Moscow. He is also professor at the Graduate School of International Business at the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration in Moscow, and an adjunct research professor at the Institute of European and Russian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. He has written extensively on various issues of the economics of development and transition. He is the author and editor of 11 books and numerous articles that have been published in the Journal of Comparative Economics, Comparative Economic Studies, World Development, Post Communist Economies, New Left Review, and other academic journals, as well as many essays in the media. His works have been published in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.

• Introduction ; 1. How the West became Rich: Stylized Facts and Literature Review ; 2. Why Did the West Become Rich First? Why Are Some Developing Countries Catching Up But Others Are Not? ; 3. Chinese and Russian Economies Under Central Planning: Why the Difference in Outcomes? ; 4. Chinese and Russian Economies Since Reforms: Transformational Recession in Russia and Acceleration of Growth in China ; 5. Growth Miracles and Failures: Lessons for Development Economics ; Conclusions

Popov has certainly written an interesting and challenging book.This small monograph deals with a very big topic: the great divergence in economic development,between Western countries and those of China and South East Asia, from the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century; and the great convergence between China and the West from the second half of the twentieth century.