If you talk to American businessmen working in Russia, they most often talk about the opportunities available here. General Motors for instance has opened one car plant in Russia already and plans two more. One executive described Russia to me as the last great untapped market in the world for the auto industry. And this bullishness seems to remain even the market downturns here after the problems in Asia's economies. So if the business of America is business, America seems to be content to work with the current Russia, albeit with some changes.
Some people regard failure to pass the tax code as a disaster for Russia.
That much exaggerates its significance. More important is the fate of the budget. Until this year, Russian budgets had been pure fiction. They projected revenues and set spending goals that simply could not be met. Chubais was preparing a pared-down budget that for the first time would start to tell Russians the truth about the limits to government's ability in Russia today.