The Russian Economy

Yuval Weber

Description

Since Tsarist times, Russia’s leaders, rather than pursue economic growth for its own sake, have sought control over economic activity as a means to manage their own support base, respond to perceived security threats and to facilitate their wider geopolitical ambitions. Balancing the needs of an authoritarian state with the tentative and inconsistent use of the market has defined Russia’s modern economic history from the nineteenth-century Stolypin reforms to Lenin’s New Economic Policy through to the high Soviet years, Gorbachev’s perestroika, and Yeltsin and Gaidar’s shock therapy. And it is no more evident today than in Putin’s management of Russia’s natural resource-based economy.

Yuval Weber provides a concise economic history of modern Russia, which explains how its economy works both at an economic level but also strategically serving its elites’ personal and political agendas. At a time when the global importance of Russia’s oil and gas reserves is in full view, the book examines the Russian Petrostate and considers the long-term challenges for an economy reliant on natural resources for its resilience. The country’s regional imbalances, the demands of its huge military-industrial complex and the legacy of centralization are considered alongside the rising consumerism of its citizens, and other human factors, such as ethnicity, health and demography.

The book offers readers seeking to understand Russia’s economic resilience in an increasingly fractured global economy, an illuminating historical perspective on Russia’s political economy and the power structures underpinning Putin’s governance.

Introduction: “Surely the goat will be dead”

1. Power versus markets

2. Russian economic reform in historical perspective

3. How Putin’s economy is governed: commanding heights and controlling elites

4. Measuring Putin’s economy: the victory of resilience over growth

5. Social factors in Putin’s Russia

6. The Russia you see is the Russia you get: formalizing informality and informalizing power via sistema

Conclusion: resilience, war and Russia’s future

Chronology of Russian history

Sujets

• Political Economy
• International Relations
• Economic History
• Political Science
• Industries
• Former Soviet Union
• Vladímir Putin
• Ucrania
• General officer
• Vladimir Putin
• Russian
• Russia
• Petroleum
• International trade
• Energy
• Economics
• Énergie
• World
• General
• History
• International
• Gazprom
• Industrie
• Vladimir Poutine
• Ukraine
• Russie

Informations

• Publié par: Agenda Publishing
• Date de parution: 04 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781788215329
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

WORLD ECONOMIES

A series of concise modern economic histories of the world’s most important national economies. Each book explains how a country’s economy works, why it has the shape it has, and what distinct challenges it faces. Alongside discussion of familiar indicators of economic growth, the coverage extends to well-being, inequality and corruption, to provide a fresh and more rounded understanding of the wealth of nations.

Published Stephen L. Morgan THE CHINESE ECONOMY Matthew Gray THE ECONOMY OF THE GULF STATES

Frances M. B. Lynch THE FRENCH ECONOMY

Matthew McCartney THE INDIAN ECONOMY

Vera Zamagni THE ITALIAN ECONOMY

Hiroaki Richard Watanabe THE JAPANESE ECONOMY

Enrique Cárdenas THE MEXICAN ECONOMY

Yuval Weber THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

Sunil Kim and Jonson Porteux THE SOUTH KOREAN ECONOMY

© Yuval Weber 2023 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. First edition published in 2023 by Agenda Publishing

Agenda Publishing Limited PO Box 185 Newcastle upon Tyne NE20 2DH

www.agendapub.com ISBN 978-1-78821-027-0 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-78821-028-7 (paperback) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset by Patty Rennie Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

Acknowledgements List of tables and figures Map

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

INTRODUCTION

POWER VERSUS MARKETS

Contents

RUSSIAN ECONOMIC REFORM IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

HOW PUTIN’S ECONOMY IS GOVERNED: COMMANDING HEIGHTS AND CONTROLLING ELITES

MEASURING PUTIN’S ECONOMY: THE VICTORY OF RESILIENCE OVER GROWTH

SOCIAL FACTORS IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA

THE RUSSIA YOU SEE IS THE RUSSIA YOU GET: FORMALIZING INFORMALITY AND INFORMALIZING POWER VIASISTEMA

CONCLUSION: RESILIENCE, WAR AND RUSSIA’S FUTURE

Chronology Notes References Index

Acknowledgements

This book is the of many people putting their time, energy, paper revisions, long culmination discussions, and especially love into making me who I am. I must start with my family: Daphna and Shlomo Weber, my parents, who gave me everything; my spouse, Laura, who is (excessively) wonderful to me, and her parents, Alan and Barbara Gold; my brother Doron and his family, Sharon and Nati; and, to my grandparents, whose stories shaped me. My community of Russia friends/nerds is immense and each one of them has been so important in helping me get some sense of the country, its culture, and its people. I must start again, however, with my father, who was born in Moscow but le under duress in the 1970s. He returned in a professional capacity in the 2000s and attempted to dissuade me from studying the country by saying that it was a lifelong matter. He was right. Russia does not leave anyone indifferent and through my study of Russia I had the unique experience of getting to know my father for a second time, albeit this time in his native language. I never knew how funny he was until I heard him in Russian! Through him I made acquaintance with Sergei Guriev, Konstantin Sonin, Jim Leitzel, Michael Alexeev, and the other professors, students, staff and friends of the New Economic School in Moscow, a marvellous institution where I spent my first year in Russia. During this time I met so many wonderful people, including Chris Miller, Yakov Feygin, Octavie Bellavance, Alessandro Iandolo and Kristy Ironside. When I stayed on in Russia at the Higher School of Economics, that was my postgrad education in Russia, and for that I thank Andrej Krickovic, Sergey Karaganov, Anastasia Likhacheva, Dmitry Suslov, Timofey Bordachev, Dmitry Novikov, Andrey Sushentsov, Ben Noble, Ryan Berg, David Szakonyi, Noah Buckley, Andrew Matheny, Andrew Roth, Matthew Luxmoore, Amy Eagleburger, Fabienne Bossuyt and Theocharis Grigoriadis. Aer that period of my life I had so much more assistance along the way. From the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard, I must thank Timothy Colton for giving me my big break, and Alexandra Vacroux, Rawi Abdelal, and their awe-inspiring staff. From there I made my way to Washington, DC thanks to Matt Rojansky and Will Pomeranz at the Kennan Institute and Diana Davis Spencer and Abby Moffat. From Moscow to Washington in two years made my head spin, but in the other capital I have met so many people who have made understanding Russia the central mission of their lives. If you think Washington’s policies towards Russia are bad, they would be much worse without Anthony Lauren, Gavin Wilde, Nick Birman- Trickett, Mike Smeltzer, Marlene Laruelle, Jim Goldgeier, Angela Stent, Harley Balzer, Aaron Schwartzbaum, Chris Jarmas, Sam Skove, Ethan Krauss and Ed Lemon. I would also like to thank Val Jackson, Ian Brown and Amin Tarzi at Marine Corps University’s Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare for being such great friends and colleagues. Last, but certainly not least, I must deeply and humbly bow before Andrew Lockett and Steven Gerrard at Agenda, who both displayed such superhuman patience with me that I shall be sending them a very nice Christmas present. e acknowledgements section of a book is usually the very last thing written, but it captures everyone who made the person before he or she sat down to put thoughts to paper. Apologies to those I have omitted. To all of you, “To the success of our hopeless cause! За успех нашего безнадежного дела!” YUVAL WEBER

Tables and figures

TABLES 4.1 Agriculture, industry and services: percentages of total employment and value added per worker in 2018 4.2 Notable sanctioned individuals and companies

FIGURES 1.1 Long-run GDP per capita, 1800–1915 1.2 Long-run GDP per capita, 1915–2015 4.1 Gross domestic product, 1999–2019, in billions of current US dollars 4.2 Gross domestic product, PPP, in billions of current international dollars, 1999–2019 4.3 GDP per capita, 1999–2019, in thousands of current US dollars 4.4 GDP per capita, PPP, 1999–2019, in thousands of current international dollars 4.5 Soviet oil production vs Soviet and Warsaw Pact consumption, 1965–91 4.6 Soviet oil export revenues 4.7 Oil production and fuel export revenues as a percentage of the economy, 1992–2018 4.8 Russian sovereign wealth funds, 2004–19 4.9 Russian exports to China as share of total exports and Chinese exports to Russia as per cent total of Chinese exports 4.10 Russia’s share of China’s imports and China’s share of Russia’s imports 4.11 Three-month interbank rates, 2011–20, Russia, Germany, United States 4.12 Net spending on research and development as a share of GDP, 1999–2018 4.13 Sector employment, resource extraction, agriculture and R&D, 2005–20 4.14 Top 10 per cent income share in Russia, United States and France, 1905–2015 4.15 Income shares in Russia, 1905–2015 4.16 Gini coefficient scores, Russia, 1905–2015 4.17 Volume of regional debts by type of debt instrument, 2011–19 4.18 Regional debt-to-revenue ratios, Russian regions in 2017 4.19 Household and non-financial sector debt vs real income levels, 2017–25 5.1 Alcohol consumption in Soviet Russia and Russian Federation, 1970–94 5.2 Basic demographic and health indicators, 1960–2000 5.3 Basic demographic and health indicators, 2000–20 5.4 Federal health statistical indicators, 2001–20 5.5 Hospital beds for women and children, 1970–2020 5.6 Natural change in population, 2000–20 5.7 Federal budget on healthcare and social spending in rubles (trillions), 2006–20 5.8 Consolidated budget on healthcare and social spending in rubles (trillions), 2006–20 5.9 Resettlement by federal programmes, 2010–20 5.10 Indicative polling for attitudes about Central Asian immigration, 2005–20 5.11 Migration patterns 5.12 Federal and regional budgets on education spending, 2006–20 6.1 Polling data on sources of news, 2013–24 6.2 Trust in news sources, 2013–24

Map of Russia and neighbouring countries