2000. vol. 4. No. 2

The article considers a stochastic model of government borrowing dynamics that uses the Ricardian tradition of analyzing public debt and seignorage. Substantial analogies are established between the macroeconomic analysis of monetary processes, on the one hand, and the theory of financial options and debt, on the other. The model allows identifying the reasons for the 1998 default on Russian domestic debt based on actual data.

The course of lectures "Natural monopoly: regulation and competition" (16 hours) is intended for masters of the Department of public administration and public sector Economics and General economic theory. In the last decade, sectors that contain natural monopoly components (electricity, gas, rail, water, telecommunications) have undergone a radical revolutionary transformation. Deregulation, introduction of competition, reform of existing regulation, and modernization of regulatory mechanisms clearly characterize the General direction of this transformation, which is in full swing in Western countries. In Russia, the reform of natural monopoly sectors is also on the agenda. In this regard, it is extremely important to understand the unfolding processes of transformation, analyze the accumulated international experience and the prospects for applying it to Russian realities. The course of lectures covers the problems of regulation of natural monopolies and ongoing regulatory reform; traditional and new regulatory mechanisms; introduction of alternative forms of competition; reform of vertically integrated monopolies; transformation of some natural monopoly sectors (electricity, gas).