Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012
From: Peter Westin <Peter.Westin@aton.ru>
Subject: A New Book on the Rise of Russian Capitalism
IN FROM THE COLD: THE RISE OF RUSSIAN CAPITALISM
Russia's transformation from central planning to a market-based economy over the past 20 years must rank as one of the biggest economic stories of our time, according to a new book on the rise of Russian capitalism.
The authors all economic and finance professionals who have invested in the nuts and bolts of the Russian transformation demonstrate why the positive economic achievements of the last 20 years should be more widely recognized in the West.
For example, the Russian government has been far more fiscally prudent than many Western countries, taking advantage of high oil prices to create a fiscal fund that by the end of 2008 held a combined $225bn, much strengthening the nation's public finances.
And, the authors note, while the US provided the capitalist model, it is China that will soon be Russia's largest trading partner and together these two economies may grow to dominate the twenty-first century.
At the same time, the authors caution that Russia's economic outlook is far from secure, especially as it remains alarmingly dependent on the oil price and further progress is stymied by systemic corruption.
---------
The editor of the book, Peter Westin, is Chief Equity Strategist and Economist for ATON, Russia's oldest independent investment group. Like many of the contributors to this book, he has lived and worked in Russia for much of the past 20 years, not only bearing witness to that country's remarkable economic transformation but participating in the dynamic capital markets that sprang from almost nothing. The other contributors are Ben Aris, Rebecca Baldridge, Fred Berliner, Arnab Das, Steven Dashevsky, Peter Elam Hakansson, Johan Elmquist, Natalia Gurushina, Peter M. Halloran, Andrew Risk, Andrey Shemetov, Bernie Sucher and Mattias Westman.
The book is published by London Publishing Partnership on 5 April 2012. If you are interested in obtaining a review copy, please reply to this email or phone Sam Clark or Jon Wainwright on 020 7733 9923.
More details on the book follow below.
---------
What is the biggest economic story of our time? The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the near-meltdown of Western capitalism? China's continuing growth and its imminent status as the world's number one economy? Or Russia's economic renaissance since the end of the Cold War?
There is no simple answer, of course, because these stories are still being told and because no economic story unfolds in isolation. That said, the fact that Russia's transformation from central planning to a market-based economy even ranks as a contender is impressive.
There will be more surprises in store, especially given that few countries are as poorly understood as Russia. While the US provided the capitalist model, it is China that will soon be Russia's largest tr