Russia’s Economic Model and Prospects for Modernisation

Abstract

The article compares the national economic model of Russia with similar models of countries at a comparable level of development, as well as with the record of the most advanced countries. The national economic model is understood in it as an economic mechanism of the country, which is characterized by both common and specific aggregate indicators for countries at similar development level. At the same time, it is influenced by the country's social, political, ethical models. The paper examines the main indicators characterizing the state of the Russian national economy, identified on the basis of a study of the World Economic Forum. After that, building upon statistical data, expert assessments and specific cases from local record, the influence of the political system and the state of the Russian society on economic activity in the country is revealed. The article argues that the fundamental imbalance of the existing Russian model is the contradiction between the interests of oligarchic state capitalism and the benefit for most economic agents. In turn, this imbalance generates a number of other negative consequences: an excessive level of state intervention in the economy, its high monopolization, a weak financial sector, as well as sluggish modernization and diversification of the economy. An attempt is made to identify the prospects for the evolution of the Russian economic model by influencing the negative imbalances through the positive imbalances of the Russian economic model: namely, the high level of education of the population, the large size of the market and the relatively developed infrastructure. In the last part of the article the conclusion is made on the possibility of transforming existing system into a classical model of state capitalism, but only if there are political conditions for such a transition.