>
> I've seen plenty of people who try to totally ignore
> the economic boom in Russia, or slight it, or explain
> it away as an epiphenomenon, apparently because Putin
> has not managed to make Russia into a Garden of Eden.
> "OK so real wages have risen 170-180%% during Putin
> and the Chechen War is over -- BUT PUTIN HAS
> PERSECUTED HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT KHODORKOVSKY AND THE
> THE CHECHEN WAR WAS HORRIBLY BRUTAL, AND IT'S ALL
> BECAUSE OF HIGH OIL PRICES ANYWAY!"
Wow this makes me want to reach for Hayek. Shame. Perhaps we could agree that Putin has been both good and bad for Russia at the same time.
Travis