ABSTRACT
Recently, however, there has been a revived interest in economic systems stimulated by the recognition that (a) next to convergence tendencies in some areas there are significant institutional diversifications among the OECD countries, see Jackson and Deeg (2006); (b) behavioural traits of the communist regime are re-emerging in former Soviet countries, see Beck and Laeven (2006); (c) the quest for healthy relationships between economy and polity in the context of developing countries, see Barro (1996); (d) new attempts to interpret historical developments, as in Acemoglu and Robinson (2005), and North et al. (2006). Finally, (e) the search for effective state regulation of the banking sector on the eve of the financial meltdown of 2008 has emphasised the urgency of reforming the economic system, see Stiglitz (2008).
