>Basically, those in power during the Soviet era have for the most part remained. >The bureaucrats who were in charge of enterprises and the economy in general >have become the new 'owners' through the ridiculous 'privatisation' process, >which has been no more than a formal process ascribing legal rights to the >directors of the enterpeises who practiced control over them in reality. I'd heard a lot about this before, but for some reason this time it reminded me of the way in which the British imperialists in India granted capitalist land-ownership rights to what had been political functionaries in the past. On the issue of the people being hurt by the current crisis: US National Public Radio reported that a lot of Russians are trying to dump all the rubles they can to get hard currency, including dollars. Thanks for the excellent reports on Russia! Muchissimas gracias! in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html
