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Looming foreign debt forces oligarchs to return power to state

(NEWSER) - A dozen years after bailing out the Soviet government, Russia’s oligarchs are seeking $78 billion in Kremlin handouts to weather the credit crunch, Bloomberg reports. Russian businesses have racked up some $110 billion in foreign debt due in 2009. The one-year loans, sought by more than 100 companies, would likely shift control of some industries back to the state. More»

Georgian war spooked foreign investment, destabilized economy

(NEWSER) - The credit crisis has officially reached Russia, revealing just how fragile the Russian economy is, BusinessWeek reports. Stocks fell so much this week that the government today suspended both exchanges to stem further loss. But the country's reliance on foreign cash—disappearing as investors flee—is bound to affect more than stock prices. "The flight of capital has exposed the complete dearth of domestic investment," says a Russian telecom company's director of investor relations. More»

The exercise showed China to be the savviest economic operator

(NEWSER) - Last month, the Pentagon hosted a new kind of war game, focused not on a “shooting war,” but on how hostile states might damage the US economy, Politico reports. Instead of decorated military brass calling the shots, shirt-sleeved hedge fund managers, academics, and executives played out scenarios shifting the global balance of power through financial moves. The outcome: China won while the US and Russia got beaten by trying to beat each other. More»

(NEWSER) - Jon Stewart’s takedown of Jim Cramer and CNBC is indicative of a real, if fleeting, sea change in our attitudes about the economy, Thomas Frank writes in the Wall Street Journal. “The applause Mr. Stewart has received for his j’accuse is the sound of the old order cracking.” But “clueless pundits often do get on top” and “stay there,” Frank writes, “despite all manner of rebukes handed down by history itself.” More»

Government urges return to traditional foods, for thrift and nutrition

(NEWSER) - Russia enjoyed the recent boom as much as any other country, as high gas prices funded quick economic expansion and citizens took a liking to Western foods such as burgers, pizza, and potato chips, Time reports. But with commodities cheap, credit crunched, and unemployment rising, Moscow is recommending a new diet, heavy on traditional Russian foods, to boost nutrition and save money. More»