FROM THE HISTORY OF PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT STATE AND PRIVATE CAPITAL (18701890S)

Kotov A., Stepanov V., Yanchenko D.

Leading domestic publicists took part in the post-reform discussion about the role of private and state capital in economic life. A striking example of the evolution of economic views of M.N. Katkov's attitude towards free trade, the drinking issue, and the problems of railway and water transport serves as a guide to a kind of economic statism. A more difficult position was occupied by the editors of another leading newspaper, Suvorin’s Novoye Vremya, whose publicists even in the 1880s. championed the benefits of private capital. However, by the end of the decade, they too were forced to support the government line, which dared to oppose only a few authors, such as K.O. De-Scrokhovsky. A significant place in discussions about the role of the state in the economy was played by the discussion of problems associated with the «all-Russian ruin» of 1891–1892, as well as with the economic development of the outskirts – both Central Asian and Far Eastern.

Keywords:Alexander III, Katkov, Suvorin, Skalkovsky, De-Skrokhovsky, private capital, state capital