China Struggles to Reform

Charles F. Bingman

Charles F. Bingman Johns Hopkins University

Abstract

The most important role of governments in the world today is to deal with the state of their national economies. Of the 200 or so countries in the world, perhaps half are in some form of serious economic dilemma, and most of the rest face major challenges to keep their economies up with burgeoning demands on them. After the fall of the U.S.S.R., the 15 nations that emerged from it and the countries of the former Soviet bloc in eastern Europe are all struggling to abandon their Soviet style governments and economies and accommodate to a “market tested economy” that few of them really understand. Most of the nations of Sub Saharan Africa have economies that are so weak that they are scarcely able to support even basic public services, especially when the country is in the hands of tyrannical and incompetent governments mired in wars, rebellions and the incursions of terrorist war lords. In the Far East, state socialist governments are also being forced to abandon much of their socialist economies and retreat slowly and reluctantly into some form of market economy. The countries of the Middle East deteriorate because of armed conflicts. Unfortunately, these realities come at a time when the more developed countries of the world are evolving into a complex new “globalization” world which widens the gap over the struggling less developed economies.

Author Biography

Charles F. Bingman, Johns Hopkins University

Charles F. Bingman is a Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Washington Center for the Study of Government, lecturing in government policy and management. His background includes 30 years as a Federal government executive in NASA, the Executive Office of the President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Transportation Department. He has undertaken consulting assignments in the U. S. and with elements of the government in 11 countries. He is the author of two books and more than 30 professional articles. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

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