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Russia fact of the day
By 2015, Moscow will boast the 10 tallest office buildings in Europe—and already prime office rents in Moscow are going above $2,000 a square meter, 50 percent higher than the most prestigious skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan.
Here is more, interesting throughout, and thanks to John Bailey for the pointer.
Addendum: Don't forget this part -- about corruption -- either:
Indeed, by some estimates, Russia's GDP growth should have been closer to 14 percent—after all, Russia is the world's largest energy exporter at a time when prices have tripled during the last half decade.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 8, 2008 at 01:31 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
Have you seen any writings on or estimates of productivity in the Russian Federation; any measures of the effects of the ongoing inflation and decreasing labor supply?
Posted by: R.Richard Schweitzer at May 8, 2008 5:50:16 PM
This at a time when the Russian population is going down too?
Posted by: Gil at May 8, 2008 9:11:23 PM
At 14 percent GDP growth, the people skimming the extra millions they didn't need over the last several years might have ended up even richer in the future.
Posted by: M. Hodak at May 9, 2008 12:10:33 AM
the other reason - is that most of oligarchs ( which poses the most of wealth in russia ) are bankers . They just personally do not beleive in inventions etc.
It is intresting to read livejournal ( most popular russian blog space ) of one of such persons - http://md-prokhorov.livejournal.com/ ( second rich person in russia ) he just plainly says that it is too difficult to develop hi tech and earn money on inventions, for that matter he proposes to put money in resources ( mines, oil fields etc ) and infrastructure
projects ( roads etc ).
But as the growth actually is bound to 'useful' ideas to improve productivity and in resource and infrastructure
projects there is a negligeable effect of new ideas then we have the picture.
So the problem of Russia is - narrowly educated, low horizont thinking elites.
An example of thinking of these persons - they promoted the 'national' idea ( which was constructed by Surkov ) that there is few oil in the world and that US and western countries will come to seize these resources.
For that reason I just post link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_fuel at forums and in livejournal and it really works - such idiotic idea of ideologists in Kremlin looks terrible.
Posted by: Sergey Kurdakov at May 9, 2008 4:36:26 AM
@ Gil,
Russia's population may be declining, but Moscow's is booming.
Posted by: Cyrus at May 9, 2008 9:24:30 AM
14%? Nah, that is bad statistics. If the value added is trapped in a fiscal paradise, it does not belong in Russia's GDP.
On the other hand, the figures may mean tha the GDP of say, Lichtenstein, (when properly measured by agreed international standrds and techniques) has grown at X,000%.
No net effect on properly measured Gross World Product though.
Posted by: Diversity at May 9, 2008 12:27:05 PM
Rent will be cheap when Russia's kleptocracy finishes squandering its resource wealth and all its left with are undereducated, unhealthy citizens.
Posted by: David Zetland at May 9, 2008 3:20:44 PM
