No 2 (2008)

The theory of population of Maltus, contradictory and interptered in a multiple way, is still influencing economic and social thought. In this article, we examine the demographic side of this theory, make an attempt to recomprehend the theoretical views of Maltus from the point of view of contemporary tendencies of the development of society.

The article is designed to discover the phenomena and place of the strategic alliances in world automobile industry, reveal the basic principles and key targets for development of the companies, oriented towards creation of the strategic partnerships in Russian automobile sector of economics. Author presents general definition of the described process, its forms and main reasons for the creation of the strategic alliances in automobile industry worldwide. Theoretical study is confirmed by analysis of practical experience and main tendencies of the development of world automobile market. The strategic alliance between Renault and Nissan Motors companies is chosen as one of the latest and most successful form of cooperation which can be generally transferred and applied in the national automotive sector. In the end of the study presented author uncovers the perspectives of the development of strategic alliances and the potential of their influence expansion in the contemporary automobile industry of Russia.

The research presents an overview of the Russian banking sectors and identifies the role of foreign financial institutions in comparison to local banks. The author shares his personal views on consequences of foreign investments in the capital of Russian banks in light of long expected Russian entry into WTO. Based on number of quantitative parameters the author demonstrates ever increasing role of foreign banks in the Russian financial market. Nevertheless, it is stressed in the research that current levels of foreigners' participation are still comparatively low. That enables the author to argue that widespread talks about the threat to national security are largely exaggerated.

It is known, that nowdays, the Russian bank system stands at the problem of the adequate answer to a call of globalization. The question is could the Russian banks find their place in the new financial world. In our opinion, the knowledge and the application of the international game rules is the one of success factors, the element of competitiveness of a national bank system. That's why, the essential factor of the quality improvement of the bank regulation and supervision and, accordingly, all bank activity is the effective application of the approaches recommended by Basel committee on a bank supervision. In article the questions of realization of «Basel-2's» approaches and the importance for Russian bank sector are discussed.

In the article the essence of knowledge economy and globalization is opened, its interrelation is shown and directions of transition of the Russian economy to knowledge economy in conditions of globalization are offered.