"...In 2004 Burma?s economy was convulsed in a monetary crisis. A crisis triggered by the collapse of the country?s nascent private banking system the previous year, the latest drama has deeper roots in, and to some extent disguises, the longer-term malaise that has characterised Burma?s economy for four decades. Burma?s economic stagnation, not readily identifiable from its official statistics, has a myriad of causes, including a policy-making process that is erratic, arbitrary and usually counter-productive. Over and above policy, however, Burma lacks the fundamental institutions that history tells us are necessary for a functioning market economy. Principal amongst these institutional absentees is a regime of enforceable property rights. In the following chapter, the state of Burma?s economy in 2004 will be assessed. The chapter begins, Part II, with an exploration of some relevant ‘numbers? ? data that highlights the damage wrought by Burma?s latest monetary crisis, and data that casts doubt on the narrative of economic success suggested by the country?s official statistics. In Part III we look for some of the ostensible causes of the latest crisis, highlighting macroeconomic and other policy failures. In Part IV, however, we suggest these are but symptoms of a more profound malaise which is founded in the failure in Burma to establish a credible regime of private property rights. The absence of these rights presents the principal obstacle to private capital formation in Burma, not least as a consequence of the extent to which ‘money? itself is compromised. Part V concludes..."