'How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate'

China has become deeply integrated into the world economy, but the country’s swift ascent in recent decades was never a forgone conclusion. Reformers after Mao’s death in 1976 agreed that it was necessary for China to move towards marketization, but struggled over the right approach.

Isabella Weber’s new book, How China Escaped Shock Therapy, uncovers the fierce reform debate that shaped China’s path, offering a novel perspective on the origins of China’s distinctive economic model. Through extensive research, Weber provides an unprecedented look at the economics that facilitated the country’s rise without leading to wholesale assimilation to global neoliberalism.

Isabella M. Weber is an Assistant Professor of Economics and the Research Leader for China of the Asian Political Economy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.