ABSTRACT
Russian economists have encountered Western economic theory or mainstream economics in its contemporary manifestation. Market-oriented reforms demanded a new way of thinking that embraced not only a denial of Marxist-Leninist political economy, but also required an understanding of the principles of operation of a market economy. The resistance to mainstream economics started from the first appearance of the bourgeois science in contemporary Russia. Many Soviet and post-Soviet political economists were honestly convinced of the scientific value of their traditional concepts, and it would be a significant blow for them to recognize that they do not meet contemporary scientific standards at all. According to the report, the teaching community had reacted in few ways to the challenge of Western economics. As a result, Platonov argued that the Russian economic model with its orientation towards autarchy, as well as its capacity for self-restraint, offered one of the few survival options for mankind.
