Thane Gustafson Books

Capitalism Russian-Style provides a progress report on one of the most important economic experiments going on in the world today: the building of capitalism in Russia. It describes Russian achievements in building private banks, companies, stock exchanges, new laws and law courts. It analyzes the role of the mafia, the new financial empires, entrepreneurs, business tycoons, and the shrinking Russian state. Thane Gustafson tells how the Soviet system was dismantled and the new market society was born, and examines the prospects for a Russian economic miracle in the twenty-first century.

No major economy is more dependent on fossil fuel exports than Russia, yet it is unprepared for the global transition away from hydrocarbons. Thane Gustafson shows that as Russia's income shrinks, its economy will stagnate, even as global warming imposes growing costs on society. By mid-century its power will fade, reordering global politics.