just two notes to Andrey's reply to Jim Blaut's request:
> From: "Andrey Korotayev" <andrei@rsuh.ru>
> > From: james m blaut <70671.2032@compuserve.com>
>
> > CNN today quoted somebody, I think some official of the US government,
> > as stating that two-thirds of the Russian economy is now in the
> > hands of the mafia.
> >
> > A few minutes later I read the informative postings from our Russian
> > comrades Andrei and Nikolai.
> >
> > I would be interested in learning their response to this dismaying
> > statement about the Russian economy which was aired on CNN, our main
> > television news organization in the US.
>
> I am afraid, unfortunately, I find this estimate close to truth.
> Russian media regularly publish similar figures, and my own
> impressions do not contradict them.
> Among Moscow small
> businesses it might even be 90%.
> Though, in most cases "being in hands" would mean paying "protection
> money" to organized criminal groups, without their actual
> administrative control of the firms. This point, of course, does not
> change the general picture for better much.
seems to be mostly true, but...
the real content of the term 'mafia' in modern Russia is radically different
from American understanding. In US most part of business is legal and mafia
is pushed to its 'normal' innate activities: drugs, prostitution, illegal
arms trade, etc.
In Russia because of stupid fiscal policy THE MOST PART OF FINANCIAL
INTERACTIONS is illegal and not seldom is made by means of US $ cash (when
have you seen last time a $100 bank-note? in Russia it is not less popular
than roubles). The other factor is weakness of Russian courts, that caused
transition of routine regulative functions (such as return of debts) to
"security services" which are always connected intimately with criminal
groups.
All this does not mean that 2/3 of Russian economics is in hands of criminals
but really means that these 2/3 are 'shadow economics' (hidden from taxes
and connected with illegal symbiosis of business, state officials and criminal
groups).
Andrey:
> Actually, I find THIS the only
> REALLY serious problem of the present-day Russia.
>
dear Andrey, here i strongly disagree with you, i see at least two huge
problems not less serious than the one discussed above
first, it is non-involveness of majority of Russian population
(except Moscow and few cites) into niches of modern world economy, that still
causes mass support of communism and of expansionist extremism (Jirinovski,
fascists, etc)
second, inertia of raw materials export combined with clear tendency of
world-capitalist elits (with IMF as an instrument) to develop mainly (only?)
getting industries in post-Soviet Russia
best
Nikolai