Originally Posted by Feanor

There is a great book by Паршев called ''Почему Россия не Америка''. I'm inclined to agree with his main thesis. Integration into the world market is suicide for Russia. On a most basic level, a factory built in Russia, with all other variables equal, will always be more expensive then one built in China. It would have to have a deeper foundation (below the freezing level), thicker walls and windows, and a pretty high heating bill. When you work all of that into the price tag, there is no reason to build industrial enterprises in Russia. Infact there is no reason to build anything in Russia. On a most basic level Russia is inefficient due to local conditions, and the only way to offset that is by simply closing off the internal market and allowing indigenous industry to develop based on internal competition for the domestic market.