<html><body> <DIV>Russia is a bigger player in natural gas than in oil and  given the dependency of Europe on  Russian supplies, a collapse of that fuel hardly seems likely.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> Nonetheless the fundamental weakness and irony is that  after all of these generations of attempts to industrialize Russia, it still remains an extractive economy. SR</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood@panix.com> <BR><BR>> <BR>> And how much of this is the result of $75 oil? Were oil to collapse <BR>> like it did in 1986, what would happen to Russia? <BR>> <BR>> Doug <BR>> ___________________________________ <BR>> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>