Word: timofeyev
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Yeltsin last June. He has threatened to poison the newly independent Baltic peoples with nuclear waste and vows to expand Russian territory by force. Though his fanaticism has made him mainly a vulgar curiosity, some observers fear he may be a forerunner of politicians to come. Says Lev Timofeyev, a market-oriented economist: "A person with a program like Zhirinovsky's could be dangerous...
...Timofeyev, a prominent Russian republic economist, is more specific, and even gloomier. Says he: "If we do not introduce full-fledged private-property rights and freedom of private entrepreneurship within the next two months, we are in for such catastrophes and upheavals that they will sweep away ((Russian President Boris)) Yeltsin, ((Prime Minister Ivan)) Silayev and you and me. This country is already in the midst of a real economic and financial catastrophe. If the West does not help us, we are in for some very serious attempts to restore a fascist-type regime...
Moreover, even if Russia and the other republics somehow get through the winter and begin the economic shock treatment Timofeyev demands, they face a gargantuan long-term job of converting to a free-market economy, which may not bring prosperity for many years. Meanwhile, the nation is certain to suffer rising unemployment as inefficient industries are shut down and continued inflation as more and more prices are set free. That would be an explosive mix anywhere, but especially in the U.S.S.R. (or whatever loose confederacy may succeed it). Inefficient as the old communist economy was, it did provide jobs...
...leader with any comparable clout. But a lawyer named Vladimir Zhirinovsky did run third in last June's Russian presidential election despite -- or because of -- his wild ideas (he now speaks of solving food shortages by invading the former East Germany with an army brandishing nuclear weapons). Says economist Timofeyev: "Right now, Zhirinovsky seems like a fool, but we have to remember that nobody took Adolf Hitler seriously until it was too late...