Introduction: Making and breaking promises -- Part one. The privatization of the Cold War: The oil shock to the Cold War -- Years of illusion and reckoning -- Defeating the enemy within -- The capitalist perestroika -- The economic Cold War -- Part two. The end of the Cold War: The socialist perestroika -- A period of extraordinary politics -- The coercion of creditworthiness -- Exit, violence, or austerity -- Discipline or retreat -- Conclusion: The triumph of broken promises.
Summary
"Communist and capitalist states alike were scarred by the economic shocks of the 1970s. Why did only communist governments fall in their wake? Fritz Bartel argues that Western democracies were insulated by neoliberalism. While austerity was fatal to the legitimacy of communism, democratic politicians could win votes by pushing market discipline"-- Provided by publisher.