This book examines whether transplanting banks from outside can solve the problems involved in creating a well-functioning market economy, looking especially at the virtual complete takeover of East German banks by their Western counterparts after unification. Drawing on a wide range of English and German sources, and fieldwork interviews across Germany, it argues that there are no quick fix solutions for the transition to a market. Implications are discussed for East Germany and for other previously centrally planned economies, and for the global implications of foreign ownership in banking.

Autorentext

Gregg S. Robins is Global EMU Project Head for Citibank in Geneva, Switzerland.