About the book: year / At the end of 2010, the famous public figure and economist Alexander Auzan was appointed a member of the Presidential Commission on Modernization. And in February 2011, he became a member of the presidium and head of the advisory group. Now, every last day of the month, he is obliged to report to Dmitry Medvedev “about an external view of what is happening.” Auzan himself, jokingly, calls himself “the chief of modernization.” The presented text is a summary of a public lecture by the “chief” on the topic “Does Russia have a chance for modernization?” Speaking about progress, success factors and blocks, Auzan casually presented the audience with several ready-made patriotic aphorisms. For example, this: “In Russia, pessimism is the official religion, which hides a carefully hidden faith in a better future».