This text is an attempt to analyze systematically the contrast in the results of post-Stalinist reform in China and Russia. It argues that there emerged a "transition orthodoxy" about how to reform the communist systems of political economy. However, it was deeply flawed. The advice which flowed from this orthodoxy was the primary cause of the Soviet disaster. The decision not to follow it was the main reason for China's enormous success in its reform programme.

彼得•罗澜（Peter Nolan）是英国剑桥大学教授,也是剑桥大学中国发展委员会主席。他曾就读于剑桥大学和伦敦大学亚非学院,并为一些大公司在亚洲和中国的事务提供咨询。作为一名经济学家,他职业生涯中涉及的领域极其广泛,并长期研究中国问题,出版了一系列的著作,在欧洲、美国和中国都影响极大。

罗澜教授著书丰富,出版的书籍主要有：China's Rise, Russia's Fall: Politics, Economics and Planning in the Transition from Stalinism(1995), China and the Global Business Revolution(2001), China and the Global Economy: National Champions, Industrial Policy and the Big Business Revolution(2001), China at the Crossroads(2003), Transforming China: Globalization, Transition and Development(2004), Integrating China: Towards the Coordinated Market Economy(2008).