1st Edition

Russia's Market Economy A Bad Case of Predatory Capitalism

By Stefan Hedlund Copyright 1999

    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.

    Preface Part I Introduction 1 Russian riches mismanaged Part II Framework 2 The heavy burden of history 3 Prelude under Gorbachev 4 The West gets involved Part III The reform programme 5 Financial destabilization 6 Banks, bonds and surrogate money 7 Russia under the new regime Part IV Lessons to be learned 8 A Russian path dependence 9 Victory for the kleptocrats? 10 Whither Russia?

    Biography

    Stefan Hedlund (Senior Professor of Russian and East European Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden)