The Russian economy (catch all)

[Firn]

In short so far it seems that the Kremlin is protecting it's budget while letting the economy suffer. We discussed the origins of that logic before.

I think the Swedish paper is pretty good and has a nice picture about the dangers of Russian rent-seeking. If I find some time I may read Resource Rents and Economic Growth, 'A report for the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)'. I doubt that it was widely discussed in the Kremlin.

The durability of networked authoritarianism is far shorter and more relevant at the moment. The author is now back from Moscow and the director of the Russian institute at the King's College, London. The graph at page three is rather neat...

This memo takes a step back from the passions of the November 2011 parliamentary and March 2012 presidential elections and the protests that surrounded them. It argues that the consolidation of the underlying Russian political economy over the past 20 years has given rise to a system of rent-seeking and arbitration pursued successfully at various levels and supported by a robust network of interlocking interests. This ”networked authoritarianism” supports the status quo and militates powerfully against significant reform. It does so, I argue, at the cost of increasing inefficiencies and social friction, raising the possibility of catastrophic change in the future. This memo will explore the structure of the system, the pressures and constituencies for change, and the limits of reform.

I fear that that catastrophic change might have already taken place in the propaganda fog of Putin's new war.