Steven Rosefielde is Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina and a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He is actively involved in economic systems and global security research with the American, Russian, Swedish, and Japanese governments. He is the author of five books, and over 150 articles published in periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, Slavic Review, Journal of Comparative Economics, Europe-Asia Studies, European Economic Review, and the American Economic Review.

"Now that the transition is over, Professor Steven Rosefielde is bringing back a new and improved version of comparative economic systems, one that treats culture, politics, and business misconduct explicitly in a market context. Rosefielde's approach is original and sophisticated, producing a theoretically rigorous text still accessible to the advanced undergraduate student. Students will learn a large amount of economic theory and come to appreciate the variety of economic systems and the sources of that variety. This is a signal accomplishment by a serious scholar and student of comparative economics." James Millar, George Washington University"This book is an outstanding text to acquaint students with the differences among the world's major economic systems. Its author is one of the best-informed and most careful scholars in the field." Quinn Mills, Harvard Business School "Thisis an ambitious and innovative work that rigorously and successfully addresses a question that economists often and mistakenly ignore: namely, how do ethics, culture, and politics affect the operation of core economic principles and the relative performance of the major economic systems in the global economy?"Charles Wolf, RAND "Rosefielde provides a forward-looking text that is firmly grounded in the fundamentals of comparative economics but that seizes fully the opportunities offered to the field by the end of the cold war. This is a text that can make comparative economic systems a "must-take" course for every undergraduate and a "must-offer" course for every economics department." Josef C. Brada, Arizona State University

• Preface. Glossary.Introduction.Part I: Systems.1. Comparative Economic Systems.2. Classification and Principles.3. Culture, Politics and Ethics.4. Power.Part II: Perfect Economic Mechanisms.5. Perfect Competition.6. Perfect Governance.Part III: Great Powers.7. America.8. Continental Europe.9. Japan.10. China.11. Russia.12. Transition.13. Comparative Potential.Part IV: Performance.14. Measurement.15. Global Performance.Part V: International Relations.16. Security.17. Military Balance.18. Interplay.