How to Become an Oligarch
Could the rise of a corruption-based oligarch class happen in the United States?
I’ve written here (and also at Skeptoid) on pop misinformation surrounding the ultra-wealthy; specifically, the widespread belief that the very existence of billionaires is, itself, bad for the economy. What the data shows is a more nuanced reality: that it only holds true for billionaires who came to their wealth through corruption.
In the US, this has historically never been the case; but in other places (looking at you, Russia) it absolutely is. This raises a question that’s well worth asking. Could the rise of a corruption-based oligarch class happen in the United States, resulting in the same systemic corrosion that has eaten Russia down to the bones?
To find out, let’s look at how this happened.
In 1991, the Soviet Union officially dissolved after so many of its constituent states gained independence. This caused a sudden collapse of their planned economy and a national economic emergency with hyperinflation. President Boris Yeltsin and his many pro-reformation associates employed what they called “shock therapy” hoping to turn Russia into a capitalist superpower, which they did through issuing every Soviet citizen a ₽10,000 privatization voucher representing ownership in state industries. These could be bought and sold. It did not go well.
