The tragedy of Soviet market economists the failed quest to civilise Russia, 1972-2022 Tobias Rupprecht

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rupprecht, Tobias, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Russia (Federation)--Economic policy--1991-.

Russia (Federation).

Capitalism--Russia (Federation).

Capitalism.

Liberalism--Russia (Federation).

Liberalism.

Economists--Russia (Federation).

Economists.

Economic policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2026

Summary:

"In this path-breaking history, Tobias Rupprecht offers a revisionist account of Russia's post-Soviet marketisation from the perspective of the advisors and ministers who oversaw this transformation. Based on extensive interviews with economists and research in state and private archives, he uncovers a significant minority of economic liberals from late Soviet academic and dissident circles who sought to chart a new path, believing free prices and private property were the foundations of a 'civilised country'. This provides a vital challenge to the dominant narrative that neoliberal advisors and organisations imposed harmful reforms on Russia after the collapse of Communism. Liberal reformers faced a profound dilemma – one for which Western advisors had no solution either: should they commit to democratic political activism and risk irrelevance, or align themselves with those in power and be co-opted by an authoritarian state determined to reassert its imperial strength?"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Introduction : the dilemmas of peripheral liberalism

Crisis : economic expertise and politics in a stagnating Soviet Union, 1972-1985

Catastrophe : economic debate, generational divide, and failed reform during perestroika, 1985-1991

Hubris : liberals in power, and the limits to liberal power, in the new Russia, 1991-2000

Diabolus ex machina : Russian liberals and the rise of authoritarian state capitalism, 2000-2022

Conclusion : the failure of Russian peripheral liberalism

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed June 30, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Rupprecht, Tobias Tragedy of Soviet market economists

ISBN:

9781009736992

100973699X

OCLC:

1564697904

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license