The Commanding Heights

A look at the shift of assets from central governments to private enterprise in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East analyzes how such changes as deregulation and privatization will affect economic power in the world. Taking a worldwide perspective, including that of Britain (where the process began under Margaret Thatcher), Europe, the former USSR, China, Latin America and the USA, this is a study of the redefinition of the relationship between state and marketplace. This is the process known as privatization - a term which inadequately expresses the phenomenon's far-reaching changes. The authors set out to show how a revolution in ideas is transforming the world economy and to explain why it is happening, how it can go wrong, and what it will mean for the global economy at the dawn of the 21st century.