> On Apr 20, 2009, at 11:48 PM, dredmond at efn.org wrote:
>
> So, the collapse of the petroleum strategy is followed by relapse into
> savage protectionism. Russia's developmental state continues to devolve
> with astounding speed.
Savage protectionism? They're using state funds to jumpstart domestic industrial production, the same strategy which worked for Japan, Korea, China, the EU, or any other other country which ever industrialized in human history. Russia has the resources to do this:
http://cbr.ru/eng/pwe.aspx?file=/eng/press/090416_132914eng_res.htm
Nor is it just Russia. In fact, the global semi-periphery has 6 trillion EUR of savings, enough rocket-fuel to start another long boom:
http://www.swfinstitute.org/funds.php
This is a truly extraordinary moment in world history -- we've had crashes and crises before. But today the global semi-periphery (3 billion people, about half the planet) has wrested a significant degree of financial, cultural and industrial autonomy from the global core. I can't claim to fully understand the consequences myself, but that's the reality of our situation.
-- DRR