Russia Revamps University Economics to Challenge Western Democratic Models

2026-01-15 global

Moscow, Thursday, 15 January 2026.
Leading a shift from Western liberalism, a Kremlin-linked body is introducing a textbook that revives Stalinist theory and controversially dismisses mathematical economic models as less scientific than astrology.

Ideological Pivot in Higher Education

In a decisive move to decouple Russian academia from Western influence, Valery Fadeyev, the chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, has announced the development of a new university economics textbook titled “Essays on Economics and Economic Science” [1][2]. Initiated by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in the spring of 2025, the project is being developed by teams from the Financial University and Saint Petersburg State University [2][5]. The 350-to-400-page volume is slated for potential introduction by the next academic year and is specifically targeted at students in non-core disciplines such as sociology, political science, and history [1][2]. Fadeyev explicitly positions the text as a counter-narrative to liberal orthodoxy, asserting that the curriculum must dismantle the “myth” that democracy is a prerequisite for economic growth [1][2].

Reviving Soviet Economic Theory

The curriculum signals a return to the socialist economic principles of the Soviet era. According to Fadeyev, the textbook will revive the theories of Joseph Stalin, treating him as a serious economist, alongside figures such as Nikolai Kondratiev, Alexander Chayanov, and Sergei Glazyev [1][2]. This shift involves a deliberate exclusion of works by recent Nobel Prize-winning economists, such as Daron Acemoglu [1]. The text will focus heavily on Russia’s industrialization period between the 1930s and 1960s [1]. In a controversial reinterpretation of history, Fadeyev dismissed the economic significance of the Gulag system, claiming that the contribution of prison labor to the Soviet economy was approximately 2% and labeling the focus on it as “another myth” [2]. Conversely, Alexander Auzan, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, has attempted to temper these claims, suggesting the project is an “educational publication” rather than a strict textbook and arguing that it does not appeal to Stalin’s works, despite Fadeyev’s statements [3][7].

Astrology Over Algebra

Beyond historical revisionism, the project represents a fundamental rejection of modern quantitative methodology. Fadeyev has criticized the “excessive mathematization” of contemporary economics, arguing that complex differential equations are merely a “mind game” with no relation to the real world [2][4]. In a striking comparison that underscores the depth of this ideological pivot, Fadeyev stated that astrology is “more scientific” than certain mathematical sections of economic science, reasoning that astrology at least relies on the movement of planets, whereas abstract economic models “rely on nothing” [4][8]. This approach aims to replace mathematical precision with a broader, qualitative understanding of the “fullness and complexity of life,” rejecting the specialized focus of liberalism which Fadeyev describes as “too narrow” [2].

Sources

Economic Policy Russian Economy