Gorbachev: The capitalist world needs perestroika too
October 30, 2009 - 7:58pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/30/1989-capitalism-in-crisis-perestroika
Today's global economic crisis was needed to reveal the organic defects of the present model of western development that was imposed on the rest of the world as the only one possible; it also revealed that not only bureaucratic socialism but also ultra-liberal capitalism are in need of profound democratic reform - their own kind of perestroika.
He's quite correct. Just don't let him anywhere near the process, however, based on what happened to Russia. 
The guys they didn't need were Boris Yeltsin and Anatoly Chubais. They were some of the insiders to the rape and pillage of Russia.
The Russians, Slavs etc had some of the most brilliant minds in western world economics and finanace helping them out in the 1990's.
Neoliberalism failed in Pinochet's Chile after a sixteen year run. The forerunner to neoliberalism was laissez-faire capitalism, and it failed in North America after 30 years. And the "new" liberal capitalism has pretty much collapsed again. Only this time, it's collapsing all around the western world.
Neoliberal capitalism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried.
The neoliberalers in America(crazy George Bush I and Clinton's regime), European and Russian oligarchs had a free hand in Russia in the 90's. And until their current gig is up, most of the same crooks will do to America essentially what they did to Russia in the 90/s.
Yes, Gorby is right. Perhaps the USsA needs a taste of their own neoliberal medicine. IMF structural adjustment programs and austerity. Of course, we know how that would work out based on much of the thirdworld's experiences.
That's a very old photo of Mikhail Sergeyevich.