Putin doesn't conduct elections in the Western sense of elections. This is more accurately probably described as a plebiscite, where people are supposed to express their support for him. The Russian system is not unique in this respect, but it is rather interesting. Here, in the West, the impression that people have is that Putin runs the whole country. This is not so, at all. To a certain extent, you could say that he runs the Kremlin, and this means that it's, in some situations, hard to tell whether it's him running the Kremlin, or the people around him running him.

Fortunes are made, and disappear, over the lifetime of a single generation. Today, a person in essence takes his wealth from society just for the duration of his or her lifetime. The next generation has to create it anew.

Today, a skilled manager makes more than the owner. And owners fight each other to get the skilled managers.

Large companies cannot finance political parties as their shareholders and employees have different political views.

By equating Putin and Russia, you are creating a situation that's the opposite of what you would like to have happen.

My parents were Muscovites. They worked at the Kaliber factory.

A left turn in the fate of Russia is as necessary as it is inevitable.