15/1/16: Russia in a Downshifters Club

A very interesting speech by German Gref (Sberbank) on Russian economic development amidst global economic transition from hydrocarbons-based economy

In the nutshell: Russian economy is in a state of ‘downshifting’ and is positioned to be a losing economy in the new post-hydrocarbons era.

I am not sure about Gref’s timing (he thinks there is at most a decade left before the global economy fully re-orients toward alternative sources of energy), but he is correct on the urgency of institutional reforms.