Remember how the Soviet Union collapsed?

A series of shocks, including fears of a new Cold War, caused share prices to fall even before this week's turmoil. Foreign investors may not return soon
by Jason Bush

Is history repeating itself? That's surely a question many Russians must be asking themselves. Almost exactly 10 years after the financial crash of 1998, Russian markets are once again in turmoil. On Sept. 16, Moscow's largest stock exchange, MICEX, fell by a jaw-dropping 17.5%, the largest one-day loss in a decade, while the rival RTS exchange was down by 11.5%.

The free fall continued on Sept. 17, causing Russia's stock market regulator to suspend trading on both exchanges. The Russian central bank pumped a record $14.1 billion into the financial system, while the Finance Ministry said it would provide $44.9 billion in short-term loans to the country's biggest banks.

Compared with the gyrations in Moscow, the 5% declines in other global markets look pretty mild. What's more, the collapse in Russia is not simply a knee-jerk response to bad news elsewhere. Well before this week's chaos on Wall Street, the Russian stock market was imploding. Since the beginning of July, the RTS has lost 64% of its value, equivalent to some three-quarters of a trillion dollars.