Here’s an interesting note from Reuters, reminding us that the most frightening prospect to siloviki in the Kremlin is not the watered down political opposition, but rather old fashioned inflation. I wonder if Putin’s brand of authoritarian capitalism is still viable when growth falls back below 5%…

Medvedev’s biggest immediate problem could be that economic planners in the government and the Kremlin are at odds over how to respond to these challenges. One camp inside the government, backed by Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich and business lobbies, believes that the government should cut taxes to boost economic growth — a move opposed by Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.