In the late 1990s, Belousov was a rare advocate of state control of the economy at macroeconomics roundtables typically dominated by younger, progressive liberals.
“But among these proponents of old-school ideology, he stood out for his understanding of the data and his actual skills rather than just spouting word salad,” Konstantin Sonin, a professor at the University of Chicago who has often worked alongside Belousov during this period, told POLITICO.
This vision of the state directing the economy is increasingly relevant in a war-oriented Russia, where the manufacturing of tanks, bombs, missiles and planes puts other productions aside.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this on Sunday. The decision to appoint Belousov as defense minister, he stressed, is linked to the need to “ensure that the economy of the security bloc becomes part of the country’s economy.”
“Today, on the battlefield, the winner is the one who is most open to innovation, most open to the fastest implementation,” he said.
He added that at 6.7% of GDP, military spending in Russia is approaching Soviet-era levels.
Politico
