Russia is heaven for bondholders and hell for stockpickers

A VISITOR TO Moscow inquiring about the outlook for Russia’s economy will often be met with answers that take a detour into the country’s past. Ask, for instance, why Russia runs such conservative budgetary and interest-rate policies and you may be told that the trauma of default in 1998 bred a strong desire for low debt and low inflation. Ask why property rights are weak and you may be taken further back, to the end of serfdom in 1861. Until then many Russians did not even own their own souls.