The Russian economy has followed a turbulent transition from its centralized and planned market under Soviet rule through its Perestroika reform and into its current liberalized state under Putin. Professor Padma Desai is one of the foremost experts on the subject and in her numerous books and articles on the subject, she addresses the issue of why Russia's transition was particularly so troubled. She focuses on the "dizzying speed" with which Russia's market was opened up to foreign investment, prices were liberalized, and industries were privatized, so that the country fell into a recession that was unprecedented in history. While bringing a rigorous application of theory and econometrics to the issue, she also discusses the political, social and cultural factors that lead to the recession and crisis that ensued after the market reforms of the 90s. Her latest book, Conversations On Russia, which has interviews with such notables as Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin and George Soros, focuses on the issue of what could have been done differently to avoid the massive blow from which the Russian economy is still reeling.

Padma Desai, Conversations on Russia: Reform from Yeltsin to Putin. Oxford University Press, April 2006.