And Gore's buddy, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, was so corrupt he managed to accumulate billions of dollars in personal wealth while in office. There was a grand window of opportunity, the most important foreign policy opportunity for America since World War II, for us to help Russia rebuild into a market based economy with true freedom and rights for the Russian people. Russia is now afflicted by the worst economic depression in modern history. Crime and corruption are so extensive in Russia that capital flight far exceeds all foreign loans and investment. Many millions of Russians now live a miserable life, with little or no pay for labor, no real property rights and only minimal freedom.
Government still owns most of the means of production and property.
Their task was to help post Cold War Russia make the transition to capitalism. The Harvard people obviously had absolutely no idea how to set up a market based economy, an equitable monetary system, a court system that protects liberty, fair property rights, or an honest central government. Instead, the Russians were led back to forming an overbearing central government, a new form of socialism and yet a different type of organized corruption. But, if personal gain counts, the group from Harvard did quite well at enriching themselves. The problem is, they did absolutely nothing for the people of Russia.