On the reliability of Chinese economic data

China is no exception to the rule that economic data for developing countries suffer from substantial margins of error. R. P. Sinha, however, exaggerates the shortcomings of Chinese economic data. A brief review of evidence regarding statistical capacity and statistical veracity supports the view that economic data emanating from the People's Republic represent the fruits of Peking's increasingly effective efforts to monitor China's economy. For China, as for India, Meiji Japan or pre‐industrial Europe, careful empirical research can and does produce results which are not guesses, but estimates of actual economic magnitudes.     

Élites in Omsk

A French sociologist provides a detailed analysis of the politics, economics, and political elite of Omsk oblast' in Western Siberia. Analysis covers oil politics, reactions to the August 1998 financial crisis, relations with Moscow, the role of entrepreneurs in politics, and the communist and nationalist oppositions. Focus is on the role of the governor and his relations with diverse political forces. The article also examines the gap between formal institutions and actual social and political practices.     

Unexpected Persistence Amidst Enlargement Stasis: Usages of Europe in Turkey’s Nuclear Energy Debate

Recent studies on European Union (EU) Enlargement have emphasised the importance of usages of ‘Europe’ by domestic actors as a necessary condition for the EU to have an impact on domestic politics. We study the usages of Europe in the critical case of Turkey’s nuclear energy policy. We analyse the narratives and actions of domestic actors in Turkey to identify if they use ‘Europe’ (the EU and the idea of Europe). We reach the counter-intuitive finding of usages by both state and non-state actors, which illustrates that usages of Europe can persist despite enlargement stasis in candidate states.