On May 9, 2007, at 7:10 AM, Chris Doss wrote:
> But this kind of stuff really has a "boy who cried
> wolf" quality about it for me. It seems like every few
> months there is some kind of dire prognosis of
> catastrophe made about Russia that never happens.
You can have a problem without a catastrophe. If oil prices were to fall hard, Russia would feel it. Investment rates of 18% of GDP are more like a developed economy (US, EU) than a "developing" one (China's at 40%, but that's almost outlandishly high). You can't sustain rapid internal growth with investment rates that low. They are consistent, though, with an oil- and credit-driven boom.
Are those consumer goods of domestic manufacture or are they imports?
Doug