Russia- Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin was the former President of Russia, generally well accepted by the Russian population. Currently, he is the Prime Minister of Russia because he was not able to run for a third consecutive term for the Presidency; however it is very possible that he will decide to run for office again in the next election, where it will be legal. According to a source cited at Wikipedia, Putin is “credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing the rule of law.” Russians have experienced a large amount of distrust towards their government as of lately, mainly because the country’s transition towards more Democratic ideals hasn’t proved to be beneficial to the average Russian. By bringing stability to the nation, it’s no doubt that Putin would be well accepted. During his time as President, Putin has called for many reforms dealing with many different sectors of Russia. Looking at the Russian economy, Putin was able to allow for a “real gains of an average 7% per year” along with growths in other sectors of the economy. Overall, Putin has advocated more liberal economic policies, a giant step towards Democracy and away from Communism. In particular, Putin had introduced a flat tax rate of 13%, which, compared to the United States, is very low. To help give businesses incentives to expand and innovate, the corporate rate of tax is now 24%, down from 35%. Wikipedia states that with the help of Putin’s legislation, “overall tax burden is lower in Russia than in most European countries,” displaying an eminent move away from Russian Communism experienced under Lenin and Stalin. While Putin certainly is not a perfect President and is rightfully criticized with certain issues, the Russian people have shown that they approve Putin and what he brought to Russia.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin