File this one under foregone conclusions: There’s a new Russian study which has surprisingly identified several of the key aspects of Putinist Russia (no political competition, no free press, no demographic plan, no rule of law, and no regard for the well being of the citizens) as being the biggest obstacles to the country’s economic development through 2020. It is surprising not because it is true, but rather that they were allowed to publish it. From BusinessWeek/TOL:

A study by the New Economic School in Moscow and the Vedomosti business daily presents what leading executives see as major challenges for the country through 2020. Their responses are remarkably forthright, given the pattern of recent years to muzzle, or even jail, Kremlin critics. The authors of the study, NES rector Sergey Guriev and Igor Feyukin, of the NES Center for Economic and Financial Research, chose representatives of private and state-owned companies with a bias against the monolithic, Kremlin-controlled energy sector. They invited 100 people to participate, but only 58 executives and economic experts did so. Guriev presented his findings at the glitzy St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on 8 June. The study’s participants believe “the lack of political competition and restrictions on political, economic and personal freedoms” are “a serious problem for the country.”