However unwillingly, the people in the government are talking today of protecting the market and encouraging foreign investment. Still, time is running out. The Communists do not have any effective prescription. At least, nobody is talking of printing more rubles, Kiriyenko said. Opinion polls show a small majority of the population would not support this policy even if were pledged to their salaries.
Nobody wants to go back to hyperinflation.
The Communists are looking for scapegoats, the anti-Semitic remarks attributed to General Makashov should be viewed in that light. The problem is that Russians have lost all trust in authority. The only approach that makes sense is to restore that trust, form a social contract with the people in which the costs of change are clearly explained. The first of these doors should be built around Russia's London and Paris club debts. Russia will not be able to meet it.