Privatization and Transition in Russia in the Early 1990s

Introduction

Background to the book

This book aims to describe, with some granularity, one of the most momentous and controversial economic reforms of the twentieth century: the privatization of Russia in the early 1990s. This involved unwinding the “great Soviet experiment – an attempt to run an entire economy … by administrative command rather than by markets” (Gregory and Stuart 1994: 5).¹ The book should be of obvious interest to those who study Russian history, or transition economics, and it should also be of interest to anyone who wishes to reflect upon the gap between economic theory and the practical reality of economic policy and implementation. Privatization was not only an event of great importance for the people of Russia. In its ...