The first speech of a new leader often contained hints of the dramatic change to come. And so it is with Putin's demarche. This theme of finding a national aim is repeated in several places. Foreign investment is to be attracted, but there is also to be state guidance of investment policy. Natural monopolies are to be subject to rational regulation.
State finances are to be put in order.
At the same time, a new policy is promised to raise the incomes of the people and to restore the social safety net. Left unanswered is the question of whether more effective tax collection will suffice to reconcile these two goals. The problem of Russia's foreign debt is avoided altogether. The economic plan bears a striking resemblance to the programs of the Primakov government of late 1998 and early 1999 and the opposition in general. But certain planks are conspicuous by their absence.