國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

Abstract / Chinese PDF Download

Regional  economic  crisis  struck  Latin  America  and  the  former  Soviet bloc in the past. Now it engulfed East Asia. Faced with this kind of crisis, most  nascent  democracies  had  to  navigate  between  neo-classical  rescue packages  imposed  by  the  international  financial  organizations  and  the domestic political reaction to involuntary economic reform. This article first delineates  the  various  theoretical  approaches  to  the  surge  of  the  current financial crisis originating in East Asia, and then explores the causes of the Russian  economic  meltdown.  It  analyzes  the  painful  process  in  which  the Yeltsin government navigated between the IMF and the State Duma. Cross pressure  caused  policy  fluctuations  and  compromises  that  resulted  in inefficient enterprises and serious tax shortage. The government thus faced a financial  crisis  and  had  to  rely  heavily  on  international  investors.  The untimely  strike  of  the  Asian  financial  crisis  on  Russia  touched  off  a  chain reaction  and  caused  collapse  of  the  bond  market.  The  government  was forced  to  impose  strict  controls  on  the  currency  market  and  the  Russian economy was plunged into a crisis.