Goodbye,
it was a pleasure,
but it was too early.

Moving from a centrally controlled economy into a free economy is very difficult. In the west, we had hundreds of years to adjust, but the former Soviet states have only had a couple of decades. Also, companies are not always willing to invest if they believe the governments may be unstable or unsupportive.

Another reason is that often companies look to invest where labor is the cheapest. China, other countries in the Pacific Rim, and Latin America are generally more profitable than in eastern Europe or western Asia, especially because of the uncertainty of political stability. Hope this helps at least a bit.

Shalom,
Vern

Metis is exactly right pinski. He said the U.S. has had more practice but the truth is we haven't gotten it right yet. Using the former republics as an example of independent states now, look no further for a comparison than mant states in the U.S. The individual state economies vary widely from very prosperous to poverty stricken. As the world transitions to a global economy and government, over the next century or two, such economic differences will be less extreme and more beneficient to all who choose to participate. Growth requires change, change requires growth (spiritually).

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Only Love Prevails,
Don

I believe what makes a country economicly strong is if they have more export than import.

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May your awareness be perfection

I corresponded with a lot of people in Russia and the Ukraine shortly after it was alright to do so.. It maybe that the old Soviet system in an effort to support the cold war had pretty much drained the countries resources to build a large military machine.

I know that when our own government (U.S.) closed many military air bases in the late eighties in response to the end of the cold war the economy slumped as there were fewer jobs and people moved away for other economic opportunities... Only recently have some of these areas begun to readjust to a more peace time economy.

In terms of natural resources though and geography I see no reason why a country like Ukraine could not have a powerful economy... but maybe it just takes time to adjust.

- Art

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler