Victor C. Shih is a political economist specializing in China at Northwestern University. Born in Hong Kong, Professor Shih immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. He attended the George Washington University on a University Presidential Fellowship and graduated summa cum laude in East Asian Studies with a minor in Economics. He went on to complete his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles appearing in academic and business journals, including The China Quarterly and The Far Eastern Economic Review, and advises the private sector on the banking industry in China. His current research concerns the political economy of fiscal transfers in China and Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities.

'Victor Shih has produced a deep and rich analysis that links the complexity of Chinese elite politics to the monetary policies that have defined China's economic reforms. … Factions and Finance in China is an excellent addition to this literature, representing deep and careful research about Chinese politics and economics. It will be essential reading for students of Chinese politics as well as those interested in the complex relationship between political and economic reform in the world's largest nation. … Shih's study is remarkable in its empirical link between factional politics and monetary policy … he does a nice job of extending his analysis to speculation about the future of China's authoritarian regime. The book is thus not only an impressive history of the relationship between China's political system and monetary policy but it is also a roadmap for predicting the future.' China Quarterly

• 1. Introduction; 2. China's financial performance in comparative perspective; 3. The banking system: flexible institutions and party domination; 4. Factional politics and its financial implications; 5. Factional politics, distribution of loans, and inflationary cycles: several quantitative tests; 6. The collapse of discipline: the first two inflationary cycles and the fiscalization of Chinese banks; 7. The height of the politics of inflation, 1986–1996; 8. The long cycle: 1998–2006; 9. Concluding discussion.

Victor C. Shih is a political economist specializing in China at Northwestern University. Born in Hong Kong, Professor Shih immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. He attended the George Washington University on a University Presidential Fellowship and graduated summa cum laude in East Asian Studies with a minor in Economics. He went on to complete his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles appearing in academic and business journals, including The China Quarterly and The Far Eastern Economic Review, and advises the private sector on the banking industry in China. His current research concerns the political economy of fiscal transfers in China and Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities.

'Victor Shih has produced a deep and rich analysis that links the complexity of Chinese elite politics to the monetary policies that have defined China's economic reforms. … Factions and Finance in China is an excellent addition to this literature, representing deep and careful research about Chinese politics and economics. It will be essential reading for students of Chinese politics as well as those interested in the complex relationship between political and economic reform in the world's largest nation. … Shih's study is remarkable in its empirical link between factional politics and monetary policy … he does a nice job of extending his analysis to speculation about the future of China's authoritarian regime. The book is thus not only an impressive history of the relationship between China's political system and monetary policy but it is also a roadmap for predicting the future.' China Quarterly

• 1. Introduction; 2. China's financial performance in comparative perspective; 3. The banking system: flexible institutions and party domination; 4. Factional politics and its financial implications; 5. Factional politics, distribution of loans, and inflationary cycles: several quantitative tests; 6. The collapse of discipline: the first two inflationary cycles and the fiscalization of Chinese banks; 7. The height of the politics of inflation, 1986–1996; 8. The long cycle: 1998–2006; 9. Concluding discussion.

Victor C. Shih is a political economist specializing in China at Northwestern University. Born in Hong Kong, Professor Shih immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. He attended the George Washington University on a University Presidential Fellowship and graduated summa cum laude in East Asian Studies with a minor in Economics. He went on to complete his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles appearing in academic and business journals, including The China Quarterly and The Far Eastern Economic Review, and advises the private sector on the banking industry in China. His current research concerns the political economy of fiscal transfers in China and Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities.

'Victor Shih has produced a deep and rich analysis that links the complexity of Chinese elite politics to the monetary policies that have defined China's economic reforms. … Factions and Finance in China is an excellent addition to this literature, representing deep and careful research about Chinese politics and economics. It will be essential reading for students of Chinese politics as well as those interested in the complex relationship between political and economic reform in the world's largest nation. … Shih's study is remarkable in its empirical link between factional politics and monetary policy … he does a nice job of extending his analysis to speculation about the future of China's authoritarian regime. The book is thus not only an impressive history of the relationship between China's political system and monetary policy but it is also a roadmap for predicting the future.' China Quarterly

• 1. Introduction; 2. China's financial performance in comparative perspective; 3. The banking system: flexible institutions and party domination; 4. Factional politics and its financial implications; 5. Factional politics, distribution of loans, and inflationary cycles: several quantitative tests; 6. The collapse of discipline: the first two inflationary cycles and the fiscalization of Chinese banks; 7. The height of the politics of inflation, 1986–1996; 8. The long cycle: 1998–2006; 9. Concluding discussion.