I do not think it was the US that did the FSU in. It was mainly their internal problems and miscalculations. They needed reforms and they were experimenting with them since late 1950s (if we discount NEP in the 1920s). 1990 was just another step on that road. What they underestimated was what would happen once they open the Pandora box of abandoning central planning. Assuming that it was all the work of a few Harvard charlatans belongs to the genre of Rambo-style fantasies.
>Where the plutos seem to be doing just fine. (she said
>in a totally unrelated aside)
Weren't they the main force pushing for market "reforms" in the first place? In my book, the "priviligentsia" is the main culprit in the premature demise of the FSU.
wojtek