Word: russiaã
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...fact, Shleifer speculates that the magnitude of Russia??s post-Communist economic collapse has been greatly overstated because official Soviet statistics were quite inflated. Shleifer further argues that Russia??s woes closely resemble those of middle-income countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, and Mexico, which all have per capita GDPs that hover around Russia??s of $8,000. Hardly exceptional, the economic problems that addle Russia??from capital flight to debt defaults—are standard fare for these middle income countries...
Most of Shleifer’s argument rests, predictably, on Russia??s economic indicators. He does not, however, ignore Russian politics. He explains away President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to undermine democratic institutions as perfectly ordinary activities for middle-income heads of state, comparing the level of election fraud, voter intimidation and vote-buying in the Russian Federation to those of Argentina and Brazil. So Russia is “normal,” at least according to the conveniently quantifiable indicators economists such as Shleifer use to gauge the economic and political life (or lack...
...states, and democracy and democratic rule were everywhere ascendant. Even traditionally conservative Germany was moving in a democratic direction, as the parliament became more representative, powerful, and willing to confront the Kaiser. The most “brutally repressive” political regime of that time—Czarist Russia??was admittedly harsh, yet in over one hundred years it killed less than four thousand people...
However, I favor the “Putin is half-crazed” explanation. If his irrational persistence in Russia??s clearly failed approach to the Chechen conflict were not enough, I would point to a few choice press conference quotes. When questioned on the Chechen conflict, Putin’s impassive KGB demeanor has slipped on a number of occasions, betraying his crude vocabulary and coarse mindset. Asked to describe Russia??s goal in the Chechen conflict, he stated that it was to “whack the bandits in the john [toilet...
...reality, with the death of Maskhadov, Russia has shot itself in the foot by eliminating a moderate Chechen leader. Although Putin will continue Russia??s tank-to-cockroaches approach, even an iron fist can not squeeze water (or peace) from a rock...