State Capitalism - Unfair Market Competitor

After the undeniable failure of communism, do Russians finally believe in free markets? How about the Chinese? If so, how is it that China does not allow the Renminbi to float freely?

The end of the free market

While there is no doubt that markets have helped China recover from leader Mao's programs like the Great Leap Forward and its subsequent social tragedies, free markets are still far from finding a homeland in China. Even the US, the global representative of all things good that come from free markets, isn't a free market economy either. See the many subsidies to the US cotton industry and their massive gravitational pull that distorts even global markets.
From totalitarian centrally-managed economies to the utopic free market, Ian Bremmer wrote a great book where he addresses these exact topics. The end of the free market focuses mainly on the effects and risks associated with state capitalism.
China, Russia and many other rising economies are now practitioners of this system, a mix between "free" free markets and central management; thus making state capitalism very important to all global market participants.
For a more in depth study of how state capitalism takes advantage of free markets for political reasons, read Mr. Bremmer's book. I found it to be quite fluid and insightful. The book will even clarify the reasons behind the new wave of anti-corporate leaders like President Obama.
I think that it is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand global markets as well as geopolitics.

Book Title: The End of the Free Market
Book Subtitle: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?
Author: Ian Bremmer
Publisher: Portfolio
ISBN: 9781591843016