Sick Of Talk Of The Recession? Ban It
Meet Vladimir Laptev, the head of the Noginsk district in the Moscow region. This month, the Noginsk administration published Laptev's decree, banning local government officials from using the phrase "financial crisis" in their public speeches and statements. The decree also recommends that CEOs of locally-based companies – both private and government-owned – "rethink their decadent sentiments and spirits and continue working towards stimulating production."
Russia's mass media which are mostly controlled by the state did not play up Laptev's decree. But the Russian blogosphere immediately exploded with sarcastic comments. "I had thought that such astonishing idiots exist only in fairy tales," wrote one blogger. "It is the same thing as censoring a report on a tornado: "A light summer breeze devastated twenty households and smashed thirty cars," another one remarked.
Russian analysts were more reserved, but no less critical. "Mr. Laptev turned himself into a laughingstock with this decree," Mikhail Delyagin, head of the Institute of Globalization Problems and a famous Russian economist, said. "It was clearly done out of hopelessness and despair. If you cannot cope with a problem, you choose to pretend not to notice it. Like an ostrich which buries its head in the sand in moments of danger."
But this "ostrich policy" may entail graver consequences than one might expect, Delyagin continues. "If there is no crisis, then the officials cannot legitimately work on the measures to fight it. As a result, the economic situation will only deteriorate."
Putting a lid on unsavory things is one of the trademark Soviet-era ways of dealing with problems. Laptev's decree may even prove effective for a while as it may help temporarily preserve the shaky social stability in his district, hit hard by the economic crisis. But it is impossible to gloss over the unpleasant reality indefinitely. As Russia's economy continues its tailspin, more and more people will lose faith in the ability of the government to deal with the recession. "Mr. Laptev might have meant well," economist Delyagin said. "But his decree effectively damages the government's reputation in the eyes of Russian people. In a way, it is a form of suicide for the government."