| Having criticized the government in a new book, the mayor refused to run for president Yuri Luzhkov again declared himself as a publicist. Having visited MSU yesterday. Lomonosov, the mayor presented his new book “The Development of Capitalism in Russia. 100 years" and gave the students a lecture of the same name. The title of the lecture implied that it would talk about the hundred-year history of Russian capitalism. However, the mayor immediately made it clear that “100 years” appeared in the title for completely different reasons. “In 1899, Lenin wrote “The Development of Capitalism in Russia.” Now we are also in a similar situation, which is why I called this book without pretension, “The Development of Capitalism in Russia,” the mayor explained, turning the brainchild in his hands.
However, when looking behind the cover, it was not only historians who were disappointed. The impressive-looking “little book” is printed on thick coated paper and contains only one hundred pages of large, primer-like text, devoted mainly to the monetization of benefits and criticism of the federal government, as clearly evidenced by the titles of the sections: “Monetization of Human Rights”, “Theoretical Errors” anti-populist macroeconomists”, “Reform of attitude towards people”, etc.
In the book, assessments of the current situation in Russia and criticism of the federal authorities are politically correct, so the lecture, in which the mayor gave a detailed retelling of the text, turned out to be much more interesting. “We have a budget surplus of 668 billion rubles, the stabilization fund is already around 750 billion rubles, and gold and foreign exchange reserves have reached $134 billion. And it seems that everything in our society is going quite well and everyone should be happy. But there is no happiness! On the contrary, protest sentiments flared up,” the mayor began from afar and, drawing a parallel with the revolutionary situation of 1905, stated that “if you do not draw conclusions, you can get into trouble that threatens not only the loss of stability of power, but also the loss of Russian statehood.” .
Then the mayor went point by point. Having sent the feds a warning that social issues should not be resolved using “Bolshevik methods,” as was done with monetization, Mr. Luzhkov attacked the stabilization fund. Describing it as “hiding the nest egg,” the mayor said that the federal budget surplus of 668 billion rubles. suggests that the feds have no budget at all. “The absence of expenditure items for such an amount indicates a lack of budget,” said the mayor. In addition, according to him, the placement of the stabilization fund abroad indicates the government’s distrust in its own financial system. “And then they say: “It’s a disgrace that our businessmen are sending money there.” This mistrust is created by the government itself!” - said the mayor, noting that, according to the Accounts Chamber, the placement of stabilization fund funds in Western banks at low interest rates has already led to Russia's loss of 23 billion rubles.
Along the way, accusing the feds of the collapse of such once competitive industries as aircraft manufacturing, electronics, mechanical engineering and the chemical industry (“I’m just stunned! For 15 years, our government has not offered the people a single development program!”), the mayor finally remembered that located in the student auditorium. And he turned to the problem of education. “When the government proposes education reform, it proceeds from the fact that the current level of Russian education does not meet the needs of an economy that is dependent on oil. And instead of preserving education and bringing the economy up to its level, the government says - since the economy does not require it, let's lower the level of education! This is a terrible conclusion,” the mayor denounced Education Minister Andrei Fursenko.
In conclusion, the mayor said that the government’s constant attempts to reduce its own social spending and take away spending powers from the regions “demonstrate an accounting approach, not a government approach.” However, to the main question that arises after such policy statements, the mayor answered negatively: “I will not nominate my candidacy for the presidency in 2008.” Alexander GUDKOV |
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