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**5711-Marine** · February 20th, 2009, 08:04 AM

The second possible mistake would be excessive interference into the economic life of the country. And the absolute faith into the all-mightiness of the state.

Of course, the role of the state becomes more direct during crises – it is a natural response to the faults of the market. However, instead of improving market mechanisms there is always a temptation to enlarge the sphere of the immediate interference of the state in the economy.

The flip side of the anti-crisis measures in almost every country is the concentration of the excessive assets in the hands of the state.

During the time of the Soviet Union the role of the state in economy was made absolute, which eventually lead to the total non-competitiveness of the economy. That lesson cost us very dearly. I am sure nobody would want history to repeat itself.

We should also be aware that for during the last months, we have been witnessing the washout of the entrepreneurship spirit. That includes the principle of the personal responsibility -- of a businessman, an investor or a share-holder - for his or her own decisions. There are no grounds to suggest that by putting the responsibility over to the state, one can achieve better results.

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Vladimir Putin