Conditions and features of the Russian economy development in 2011 are considered in the article. Having caused unprecedented outflow of the capital abroad, rising tension and turbulence on the world financial and stock markets have not broken off recovery of the Russian economy. Crisis recession was overcome. Record-breaking low inflation, rapid credit restoration and active government adjustment neutralized negative effects of the external tension and supported economic growth, having encouraged consumer and investment demand.

The demand for law on the part of the society (business, middle class, civil society) is not sufficient at the transformation stage — the reciprocal demand for law from the power elite is necessary. Modern theory states that in the contrary case the pressure on elites would require more open regime of participation. Strengthening the positions of the power elite in the long-run would require limiting endless redistribution of assets and introducing the common rule for all.

Auxiliary institutions fail to perform the function of protecting economic agents trust in the liquidity of various monetary obligations. Still, despite these conclusions, there exist some forms of monetary arrangements that seemingly demonstrate a high level of trust among their participants. The durability and continuous reproduction of these monetary arrangements in both developing markets and mature economies need to be explained. Part of this explanation has to address the question of trust arising among the parties to these financial transactions and its role in preventing opportunism and breach of promises made by their participants. As shown in this paper, a possible answer to this question might consist in the argument that the protective role of trust in these financial arrangements is replaced by the opposite norm of control over the agents behavior within close-knit social and economic communities. The degree of control may vary, but control always crowds out trust in order to add reliability to these financial setups.

The aspects of institutions influence on economic growth and the priorities of their development are studied in the article. Two complementary analytical techniques are suggested. The first one, based on the discrete institutional alternatives method, is aimed at the "institutional design" determination of the national consensus about the long-term development objectives. The second, based on the growth indicators correlation analysis, makes possible to find out the sequence of the institutional reforms in the mid-term period.

The opportunities of the competitive advantages use of the social and cultural capital for pro-modernization institutional reforms in Kazakhstan are considered in the article. Based on a number of sociological surveys national-specific features of the cultural capital are marked, which can encourage the country's social and economic development: bonding social capital, propensity for taking executive positions (not ordinary), mobility and adaptability (characteristic for nomad cultures), high value of education. The analysis shows the resources of the productive use of these socio-cultural features.

А new approach to policy-making in the field of economic reforms in modernizing countries (on the sample of SME promotion) is the subject of this article. Based on summarizing the ten-year experience of de-bureaucratization policy implementation to reduce the administrative pressure on SME, the conclusion of its insufficient efficiency and sustainability is made. The alternative possibility is the positive reintegration approach, which provides multiparty policy-making process, special compensation mechanisms for the losing sides, monitoring and enforcement operations. In conclusion matching between positive reintegration principles and socio-cultural factors inherent in modernization process is provided.

This paper analyzes the approach to the global imbalances (and probable global savings deficit) problem in the light of long-term interests of each global actor. It outlines three long-term trends that will change the growth landscape in twenty years to come. Those are population ageing, the rise in household consumption for large developing economies and the next phase of moving production to developing economies. Key long-term interests and structural problems for three key actors — US, EA and China - are identified. The author outlines two long-term scenarios (inflation versus restructuring) of the excess debt and probable savings deficit (a part of the global imbalances problem). The analysis suggests that currently the world economy is on the path to gradual debt restructuring, implying a long period of low economic growth rates.

The article deals with the trade in the CIS region and in the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The methodology of the analysis is based on the UN Classification by Broad Economic Categories (1971) and B. Balassa model for detecting competitive advantages. The authors conclude that the CIS countries are interested in further integration in the post-Soviet area. The regional CIS market plays a greater role for semi-manufactured and final goods producers from the former Soviet republics. But the dynamics of the whole export shows that the CIS economies get more and more oriented on external markets in the sphere of primary goods.

Using the cross-country ESS (2008) data file, the author explores welfare attitudes of population of European countries, the demand for social policy, the willingness to participate in its financing, and the difference between these two parameters. The paper argues that expectations associated with social policy and willingness to accept higher taxation in order to receive more benefits as well as the gap between these two depend on institutional characteristics of the countries that constitute the factors of fiscal illusion. Poor institutions and the lack of transparency in fiscal and social policies feed corruption and fiscal illusion, therefore generating misperceptions and free rider behavior.

The article gives an assessment of P. A. Stolypin's political, economic and social reforms, their significance for the contemporary development of Russia, including the eastern territories. The author believes that the basic principles of the reform system proposed by Stolypin are relevant today and can become fundamental for improving the country's competitiveness.