This book provides a comprehensive overview of Russia's difficult economic transition from a command economy since the early 1990s. It covers the financial crisis of August 1998 and the global financial crisis a decade later. Key subjects covered include economic transition, privatization and liberalization; changes in land ownership and agriculture; energy; foreign direct investment; economic stabilization; and economic performance. Russia is well endowed with raw materials, especially oil and natural gas; this book argues that in some ways this has not helped Russia's attempts to become a more diversified and high-tech economy.

Overall, the book demonstrates how much the Russian economy has changed in the period. It continues - and adds to – the overview of developments in the author's The New Russia (2002), and is the companion volume to Political Developments in Contemporary Russia (2011) - both published by Routledge.