Russia: A Long View

ISBN: 0262017415

Author: Gaidar, Yegor

Condition: Used

An important Russian economist and politician takes a long view of economic history and Russia's development.It is not so easy to take the long view of socioeconomic history when you are participating in a revolution. For that reason, Russian economist Yegor Gaidar put aside an early version of this work to take up a series of government positionsas Minister of Finance and as Boris Yeltsin's acting Prime Ministerin the early 1990s. In government, Gaidar shepherded Russia through its transition to a market economy after years of socialism. Once out of government, Gaidar turned again to his consideration of Russia's economic history and long-term economic and political challenges. This book, revised and updated shortly before his death in 2009, is the result.Gaidar's account of long-term socioeconomic trends puts his country in historical context and outlines problems faced by Russia (and other developing economies) that more developed countries have already encountered: aging population, migration, evolution of the system of social protection, changes in the armed forces, and balancing stability and flexibility in democratic institutions.This is not a memoir, but, Gaidar points out, neither is it written from the position of a man who spent his entire life in a research institute. Gaidar's long view is inevitably informed and enriched by his experience in government at a watershed moment in history.