Book Review: Tethered deer. Government and economy in a Chinese country by Mark Blecher and Vivienne Shue. Stanford University Press, California, 1996. 267pp. (Distributed by Cambridge University Press outside of the North American Free Trade Area)
✍ Scribed by Robert Benewick
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 54 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-2075
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
becomes a rather Gradgrindish recitation of facts. However, these are often very well presented in clear maps, diagrams and tables that considerably ease the reader's passage through complicated realities.
The book's second major defect, which the author openly acknowledges, is that the book is primarily about Poland. The other three countries discussedÐHungary, the Czech Republic and SlovakiaÐtag along with the Polish experience rather like children following the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In consequence, the particular problems of the other three countries are not always adequately explained or explored and there is often an assumption that the Polish experience is equally valid for the other countriesÐwhich may or may not be true. Readers interested primarily in Hungarian, Czech or Slovak regions may ®nd less grist for their mills than the title page leads them to expect.
Overall this is a valuable work of reference for all those who are concerned with the integration of the regions of Central Europe into the `Europe of the Regions'. These four countries are all seeking early entry to the European Union. Because the Union's regional policy is rapidly gaining in importance, and because most Central European regions will need substantial development aid if they are to compete within the Union, their development needs and opportunities need to be identi®ed urgently. This well-researched book does much to assist in the task of assessing the dif®culties and opportunities of these regions but it does not offer a complete guide on how they should be addressed.