Yoshie: > > The Russian default was a blow against neoliberalism: "Neoliberalism > at the global level has also been dealt some serious blows--although > one of the hardest punches has not received the attention it > deserves: Russia's default on $200 billion worth of debt, some $40 > billion of which is owed to foreigners. Like the proverbial sewer > smell arising in the midst of a dinner party, the guests--the > international creditors--do not want to mention it. This is a first > for the international system of debt peonage, and the idea could > easily spread" (Mark Weisbrot, "Neoliberalism Comes Unglued," > <http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/weisbrotoct98.htm>).
Considering all the fuss that was being made at the time, it's worth thinking about who actually got hurt by the Aug. 1998 crisis. The nouveaux riches, the IMF, foreign speculators, various criminal "banks" and people with lots of savings in rubles and bank accounts, that's who. Not a lot of people. The middle class was paid in dollars under the table anyway and actually saw its income rise as a result of the devaluation; many people saw their buying power double in a matter of weeks. The poor were being paid in barter to the extent that they were being paid at all. Some "disaster." > > And it has! Once again, the Russians proved themselves to be the > vanguard. :-> Da zdravstvuyet Rodina! :)
