Russia's ""market"" economy : a bad case of predatory capitalism

Russia's Market Economy is a seminal account of Russia's transition to the market, its tortuous development as a fledgling market economy through the 1990s, right through to its spectacular collapse in August 1998. Rather than beginning with the economic collapse, the book traces the historical mismanagement of Russian wealth through to the Soviet command economy, and on to Gorbachev. Stefan Hedlund finally discusses what lessons should be learned from the damage inflicted on the Russian economy, as well as its social, legal and political infrastructure, by the race of reform. This text challenges the myth that there is a set of immutable economic laws that can be applied in Russia as everywhere else. The author contends that the chief failure of the 1990s economic reform was a neglect of the country's cultural heritage. It maps out a path which has the roots of Russia's Soviet and post-Soviet problems in old Muscovy, and challenges the myth that they were uniquely linked to communism and the Soviet order The book also illustrates the dominance of political considerations over economic considerations in determining macroeconomic policy, from late 1991 until the financial meltdown of August 1998. It shows how powerful vested interests succeeded in unprecedented plunder of the remains of the Soviet economy, leaving it up to tax payers in the West to house and feed those who were excluded from the 1990s boom Russia's ""Market"" Economy is a seminal account of Russia's transition to the market, it torturous development as a fledging market economy through the 1990's, right through to its spectacular collapse in August 1998 This investigation of Russia's economic reforms challenges the myth that there is a set of immutable economic laws that can be applied in Russia as everywhere else. Stefan Hedlund. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 373-381) And Index.