State of Russian Economy Today

Five Important Facts about the Russian Economy

    
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     After reading Acemoglu and Robinson's take on the development of the Soviet Union economy during the 20th century, I became curious about the state of the Russian economy today. Their of the persistence of political and economic decisions of the past influencing modern-day institutions seems to hold some water in this case study. The former Soviet Union has yet to successfully and fairly implement strategies that would lead to the development of a market economy, failures that the article above attributes to a lack of judicial independence from corrupt political structures. I think that there are many factors that can influence economic growth in a nation, and it's hard to point to the political decisions of the past as the primal cause for the perpetuation of social, economic and political stability with 100% certainty.
    Nonetheless, Alexeev seems to agree with Acemoglu and Robinson in that there is still a prevalent cultural mindset that causes Russians to discourage themselves from taking initiative, problem solving, or taking creative risks.