I will begin by saying that I fully support the analysis and conclusions V. Seliunin advanced in his article. He does not talk about trifles, about secondary problems and difficulties in our economic life. He talks about the most important thing. We have no need of illusions. The question today...

iThe editors/i o/Novyi mir i[New World] received many hundred letters following publication of the article "Advances and Debts" [Avansy i dolgij. * Roughly nine-tenths of them supported the author's positions; one-tenth were partially or entirely opposed. Many of the letters raised very acute...

No one is satisfied with the state of our economy. Two of its major, "built-in" flawsâthe producer's monopoly in the face of general scarcity, and the enterprises' lack of interest in scientific-technological progressâare probably obvious to everyone. But I am certain that there are no sages...

The transition to a socially oriented market economy in Russia will unquestionably take more than one decade and perhaps even more than one generation. The magnitude of the problems confronting the nation is too great for us to have any illusions that this most profound historical crisis can be...

This paper seeks to explain, why Russian (and CIS) economic transformation was neither a shock therapy nor a gradual transition case, but instead followed a sort of middle-ground inconsistent shock therapy path.

Uzbekistan is not usually considered an economic success story, but in fact it is: its GDP increased since 1989 more than in any other post-communist country, except for China, Vietnam and Turkmenistan. The success of Uzbekistan is very much similar to the Chinese - gradual economic reforms with...

Sometimes industrial police is a success story, but sometimes it is a total failure. It seems like the best results are achieved in countries that (1) support industries oriented not only towards import substitution, but also towards export, at least in the longer run, and (2) support not all...

If there is a negative terms of trade or financial shock leading to the deterioration in the balance of payments, there are two basic options for a country that has limited foreign exchange reserves. First, a country can maintain a fixed exchange rate (or even a currency board) and wait until...

The goal of this paper is to offer a non-technical interpretation of the "Great Divergence" and "Great Convergence" stories. After reviewing existing explanations in the literature, I propose a different interpretation. Western countries exited the Malthusian trap by destroying traditional...

The quality of pellets is directly related to their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. It affects the emissions resulting from their combustion and also their use in stoves and boilers. Certain European countries have developed standards specifying control parameters and guidelines...