With Different Priorities, Russia Could Be A Great Economic Power
David Campbell is a Moncton-based economic development consultant and co-host of the Huddle podcast, Insights. The following piece was originally published on his blog, It’s the Economy, Stupid!, on Substack.
You can put this one into the category of the guy with a hammer seeing every problem as a nail. I have always wondered why Russia didn’t focus on becoming a globally integrated economic power — leaving the militaristic posturing and the warmongering far in the past. If Putin wants to “make Russia great again,” he could be leveraging enormous economic potential rather than invading neighbouring countries.
I don’t claim to have any insight here, really. Reading about late 19th century and early-mid 20th Century Russia and environs has been a bit of a hobby. I have 35 books in my physical collection and another two dozen or so audiobooks on the subject. Reading 30,000 pages from Chernyshevsky’s What Is to Be Done? to Lenin’s What Is to Be Done? to Robert Service and Anne Applebaum chronicling What Has Been Done gives me just enough knowledge to be dangerous.
I groaned when former president Barack Obama remarked that Russia was a declining power, or something similar, and was not surprised when Putin, nearly a decade later, referred in a speech to the U.S. as a declining power (he used almost the exact wording as Obama).
Russia wants to be a globally influential power; its politicians and many (if not most) of its people. What’s wrong with that? The problem is the method.
Russia has enormous natural resources. I believe it has massive tourism potential. It has cranked out impressive IT talent for decades. Imagine if that talent was put to positive use. It has strong universities and research capabilities. Large swathes of Russia are ideal for farming. It is one of the most oil, gas, and mineral-rich countries in the world. And it sits strategically between east and west.
Russia could be one of the most impressive economies in the world, attracting talent from the far corners – just like Canada does – instead of giving mothers a million rubles if they have 10 or more children.
I hope the post-Putin Russia figures this out. They went through a Kleptocratic phase – so did the Yanks with the Robber Barons. Now is it time to build highly credible institutions that offset each other and ensure accountability. When the media, military, courts, political systems, and billionaire tycoons are all aligned – no good can come of it.
A competitive and dynamic market economy that limits graft, coupled with a grand vision for a free and open Russia that sees itself as a world leader in addressing global challenges without brute force, would be better for its people and the planet.
And I truly think it is possible. There are those who think Russia is nothing without its Nukes: that it is a declining power with a miserable population that would all leave if given the chance.
I see Russia as similar to Canada geographically – with even more resources – and even better positioned geographically for this century and beyond.
The trouble is that, unlike troublesome journalists, cultural baggage is hard to purge. This view that Russia needs a strongman to be successful goes back hundreds of years. The view that Russia’s true power comes from military might (we will never let Europe boss us around again) is hard to dislodge.
But if the goal is a wildly successful Russia where 92 percent of the population has a high level of life satisfaction (like in Canada), where median incomes are comparative with the rest of Europe, and where people are flocking to move to rather than leaving in droves, I suggest they boot Putin, bring in Navalny, and focus on becoming a great economic power.
Giving mothers a medal and a million rubles for having 10 children could then be removed as a major policy for Russian greatness.
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