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{
  "authors": [
    "Pekka Sutela"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center"
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  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "russia",
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Source: Getty

Other

Russia's Response to the Global Financial Crisis

While Russia’s short-term economy will largely depend on oil prices and the country’s demographic challenges, its medium-to-long-term outlook will be influenced by the lessons that leaders take from the crisis, which will affect Russia’s economic structure and policies for many years to come.

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By Pekka Sutela
Published on Jul 29, 2010
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Russia and Eurasia

The Russia and Eurasia Program continues Carnegie’s long tradition of independent research on major political, societal, and security trends in and U.S. policy toward a region that has been upended by Russia’s war against Ukraine.  Leaders regularly turn to our work for clear-eyed, relevant analyses on the region to inform their policy decisions.

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While the timing and extent of the global financial crisis surprised many countries, Russia was generally prepared. Its macroeconomic management of the recession rightly earned accolades from several international organizations.

But Moscow’s industrial and social policy responses were not as praiseworthy, representing yet another victory of political tactics over economic strategy. Although Russia’s leaders saw the crisis as vindicating their past policies—including the reform strategies they devised from 2006–2008—most of the structural issues in Russia’s economy remain, with solutions likely delayed for several years. Russia’s fiscal decline— from an average of 7 percent annual growth before the crisis to a loss of 7.9 percent GDP in 2009—is the highest figure among G20 countries.

Russia’s economy in the near term will largely depend on oil prices and how Moscow handles the country’s demographic challenges. But the economy’s medium-to-long-term outlook will be influenced by the lessons that leaders take from the crisis, which will affect Russia’s economic structure and policies for many years to come.

About the Author

Pekka Sutela

Former Nonresident Senior Associate, Russia and Eurasia Program

Sutela was a nonresident senior associate in the Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia Program, where his research focuses on the economies of Eurasia, especially Russia.

    Recent Work

  • Paper
    The Underachiever: Ukraine's Economy Since 1991

      Pekka Sutela

  • Article
    Russia’s Economic Prospects

      Pekka Sutela

Pekka Sutela
Former Nonresident Senior Associate, Russia and Eurasia Program
EconomyCaucasusRussiaNorth America

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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