  The first (Russian) edition of the book was among the first monographs on
econophysics. The book gives an explanation of several intriguing phenomena,
providing new insights and answers to some deeply vexing questions.
  Why the economic "shock therapy" implemented in Eastern Europe was doomed to
a failure whereas the approach adopted by China and Vietnam should inevitably
lead to economic growth (damped, perhaps, by corruption and inconsistencies)?
  Why some restrictions imposed on markets are dangerous? Politicians (and
laymen) usually believe that the more restrictions you impose on the society,
the easier it is to govern. The reality seems to be more subtle. Some
restrictions are necessary for the markets to function. However, restrictions
on salary, for example, seem to always result in unemployment, as a simple
"spin" model shows. Evidently, optimizing freedom is an equilibrium problem,
and none of the extrema is devoid of danger.
  Why should crooked dealings be prevented?
  What is a reasonable rate of taxation, if any such exists?
  Other questions abound, raising many points of interest.
  Appendices contain an essay which informally can be entitled "Why mathematics
and physics major should study economics" and a deep mathematical paper
summarizing a century long study of nonholonomic systems (such as ideal gas or
market economy) in the quest for an analog of the curvature tensor in
nonholonomic setting.
