• E. Goryunov, S. Drobyshevsky, P. Trunin — Monetary Policy of Bank of Russia: Strategy and Tactics
• S. Narkevich — Gold and Foreign Exchange Reserves: History, Definition, Composition and Modern Functions

• I. Gilboa, A. Postlewaite, L. Samuelson, D. Schmeidler — Economic Models as Analogies

• Yu. Solovieva — Formation and Development of Technology Transfer System in Russia and Abroad

• D. Raskov — Crossing the Borders: McCloskey and Humanistic Approach to Economics (On the Book by D. McCloskey "Rhetoric of Economics")
• T. Leonova — Our Debts Heavy… (On the Monograph "Debt as a Phenomenon of the XXI Century")

Abstracts

The paper deals with the roots and features of current Russian economic problems, compares 2008—2009 and 2014—2015 crises, factorizes the last one on three main components. The analysis includes the effects of sanctions against Russia on the current economic situation and structural problems that slow economic growth. Special attention is paid to examples of medium-term and long-term steps that can provide sustainable development of Russian economy.

JEL: O52, P27.
Keywords: economic policy, crisis, model of growth, Russia.

Economic sanctions against Russia form a completely new context for public and private efforts to cope with crisis trends in Russian economy. With limited access to global goods, capital, and technology markets, it can at best minimize costs of the crisis but not come back to the normal growth path. Strategies to find new trade partners and sources of capital outside the group of countries that have introduced economic sanctions against Russia are welcome, but their potential is rather limited. Under these circumstances, crisis management should be centered neither on the alleged ‘Russia’s pivot to the East’ nor on the wide-scale import substitution but on normalization of economic relations with key country partners, regaining currency stability, and structural reforms aimed at moving national economy away from commodity specialization.

JEL: E32, F32, F51.
Keywords: economic sanctions, Russia, balance of payments, external trade, import substitution.

The article is focused on the new crisis in Russia and its projection on the regions including the impact on regional economic development, labor markets and household money incomes in 2014. Factors and spatial features of the new crisis are compared with the previous crises of 1990—2000. Different territories prospects are analized as well as the state anti-crisis policy to support the regions.

JEL: R00, E60, H00, H12, H70, H77.
Keywords: crisis, Russia’s regions.

In recent years Bank of Russia has made several major changes in its monetary regime, including elimination of the exchange rate corridor and introduction of the key rate as the main monetary policy instrument. The article discusses these developments in the context of long-term priorities of the monetary authority. We put emphasis on the extent to which monetary policy should stimulate economic growth and assess whether the policy of the Central Bank of RF was excessively tight in 2010—2014. In order to do that we use the real interest rate on short-term loans in the interbank market as an indicator of monetary policy tightness. Cross-country comparisons together with the analysis of dynamics of selected indicators suggest that Bank of Russia’s policy was rather soft. We conclude with comments regarding tactics of monetary policy under current turbulent macroeconomic conditions.

JEL: E31, E42, E43, E44, E52, E58, E61, F31, G18.
Keywords: monetary policy, economic growth, inflationary expectations, inter-bank market, foreign exchange market.

The article deals with the concept of gold and foreign exchange reserves and the role they play in the present-day economy. Recently the stock of foreign exchange reserves accumulated across the world has grown substantially. In many cases it was connected with the functions they play in the current monetary policy. Possibilities to use such reserves to counter balance of payments shocks or for achieving export-oriented growth make them an important macroeconomic stability tool.

JEL: E51, E58, F31, F32, F33.
Keywords: foreign exchange policy, foreign exchange reserves, trade shocks, balance of payment shocks, export-oriented growth.

People often wonder why economists analyse models whose assumptions are known to be false, while economists feel that they learn a lot from such exercises. We suggest that part of the knowledge generated by academic economists is case-based rather than rule-based. That is, instead of offering general rules or theories that should be contrasted with data, economists often analyse models that are "theoretical cases", which help understand economic problems by drawing analogies between the model and the problem. Thus, economic models, empirical data, experimental results and other sources of knowledge are all on equal footing, that is, they all provide cases to which a given problem can be compared. We offer complexity arguments that explain why case-based reasoning may sometimes be the method of choice and why economists prefer simple cases.

JEL: B40, B41.
Keywords: economic models, analogies, realism of assumptions.

The article considers the forms and conditions of interaction of participants of innovative process, features of creation and development of organizational system of technology transfer in Russia and foreign countries. On the basis of the analysis the author points out the key and most perspective directions of development of integration of scientific and educational, production spheres and the state in order to form special mechanisms of the organization of innovative processes providing effective interaction between all participants.

JEL: О31.
Keywords: technology transfer, innovations, innovative process, participants of innovative process.

This paper reflects on Deirdre McCloskey’s book "Rhetoric of economics" on the occasion of its Russian edition. McCloskey’s intellectual evolution is marked by the early interest in economic history that is then linked to the interdisciplinary humanistic search of the origins of capitalism. The article reconstructs the basic ideas of McCloskey on economics and the possibilities of its humanisation and shows the role of rhetoric for the later work on the boirgeois virtues and dignity. It also demontrates the remnants of modernism in McCloskey’s texts such as the dominant role of the author and the failure to fully recognize economy itself as a rhetorical phenomenon.

JEL: A12, B31, B41, Y30.
Keywords: rhetoric of economics, McCloskey, bourgeois virtues, capitalism.

Lending capital, credit and debt financing have been around and used to fuel economic development since the time immemorial. There are innumerable studies by international and Russian scholars that look into the evolution of these notions and lending instruments employed. The collective monograph edited by A. Porokhovsky and published by the MSU in 2014 intends to provide an all-around political and economic as well as applied review of the current debt issues faced by the global economy, national economies of Russia, U.S.A. and countries of the European Union. It uses a variety of academic and methodological postulates that range from the reproduction approach to modern macroeconomic doctrines.

JEL: F43, H11, O11, J29, P11, P17.
Keywords: debt, public debt, private debt, global economy, national economy, reproduction, finance, credit, information and communication technologies.