Nope, not part of the "Russia is Indonesia" crowd. Just someone who has spent a lifetime studying, observing, going to, and writing about Russia.
The areas you mention -- the space station, defense systems, military weapons -- are all the legacy of the Soviet Union. And even there, if you listen to the Russians, things have deteriorated sadly. The space program is in a sorry state, compared to what it once was.
In the Soviet Union, the big problem was underdevelopment in every other area of the economy -- agriculture, consumer goods, medical technology, etc., etc. Everything was subordinated to the military sector (in which space was included).
Russia has made very little progress in expanding production outside the military sector; indeed, actual industrial production has declined since 1992. The early reformers, preoccupied as they were with privatizing Russia's big dinosaurs, did not focus on creating the necessary conditions for the development and flourishing of NEW businesses that could "fill in the gaps" that existed in the economy. On the contrary, the appearance of new firms was discouraged, by the tax laws, by the red tape, etc., etc. That has not changed. Take a look at Russian television: the only Russian firms that advertise are the banks; all the rest of the ads are for foreign products.
I have no problem with anyone investing in Russia. I just do not believe that the Russian economy is only an "inefficient" version of the U.S. economy, at this point in time. It is not quite like any other economy; otherwise put, it is sui generis. That I think is why it is often so hard just to figure out what is really going on there.
jbe |
