In the Winter 2005 issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Andrei Shleifer and Daniel Treisman have an article on Russia called "A Normal Country: Russia After Communism." They compare Russia to other middle-income countries and find that that Russia is normal, at least compared to other middle income countries such as Argentina and Mexico. The argue that while things in Russia are far from perfect, its defects are consistent with the defects of other middle income countries.

When I first read this essay I found the argument very compelling. While I still find much of what they say to be correct, my perspective has changed considerably after reading "Comparing Apples: Russia, Normalcy, and the Remaining Post-Socialist World." William Trumbull and Peter Leeson suggest that the relevant comparison is not other middle-income countries, but other post-socialist transition countries. They find that compared to that cohort, Russia is not "normal."