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01.23.2002

Vladimir Putin: Dictator or Reformer? Listen Listen


Vladimir Putin


Forums: What do you think about Vladimir Putin?

With little fanfare outside Moscow, Russia’s last independent national television broadcaster was closed down this week. Many westerners are seeing this as one more step in Russian premier Vladimir Putin’s clampdown of all opposition. Outside watchers criticize Putin’s dismissal of regional governments and silencing of the news media, but among the Russian people, Putin enjoys huge approval ratings, and a growing economy. President Bush says Putin is a true friend. But is this friend taking Russia back to semi-authoritarian rule?

Guests:

  • Marshall Goldman, author of over a dozen books on the former Soviet Union
  • Anders Aslund, Senior Associate of the Post-Soviet Economies in Transition at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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    Forums: How do you plan on paying for your retirement?

    401(k) Nation Listen Listen

    When it comes to retirement, Americans are on their own. The security of company pension plans? Fast disappearing. In its place? The promise of the stock-dependent 401(k). In the booming market of the 1990s, American workers watched their retirement funds skyrocket. Then, recession settled in. Companies went under, stocks dwindled down to nothing, and thousands of employees watched their retirement savings all but disappear. This hour, negotiating retirement, in good times and bad.

    Guests:

  • Teresa Ghilarducci, Associate professor of economics at Notre Dame University; author of Labor’s Capital: The Economics and Politics of Private Pensions
  • Alicia Munnell, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
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       Tom Ashbrook
       
       
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