Opening address of editor-in-chief.

Bionetics is a new science about the nature of virtual reality, it is at the junction of four sciences: psychology, philosophy, genetics and cybernetics. Rapid development of the Internet and computer technologies has contributed to creation of a huge virtual world where many people pass a lot of time. This is part of modern life, which exists independently of our attitude towards it. It is impossible to ignore the virtual world. That’s why we need to learn it and to use it correctly.

This article therefore analyses in detail the relation between the economics of neo-liberalism and the deepening US/UK political destabilisation. But, in addition to analysis of immediate events, it must be borne in mind that the UK and US were successively for two centuries the world’s most powerful economies. Analysing the deepening political crisis in the Anglo-Saxon countries, in its fundamental historical context, therefore also allows a clear understanding of the present dynamics of the global economy and geopolitics — as well as making clear why US domestic instability is inextricably linked with international geopolitical instability.

The purpose of the present article is to substantiate the directions of transforming the mechanisms of the fuel and energy complex management in Russia in order to eliminate risks and threats to the national economic interests of our country, manifested in the period of oil prices falling and introduction of anti-Russian economic and political sanctions. The authors propose approaches to substantiate the ways for protecting Russia’s economic interests in relation to the fuel and energy complex (FEC) of Russia, including concentration in the state’s hands of export flows of fuel and energy resources management (supply routes, volumes of extraction, transportation), cpecification of payment terms; intercorporate coordination of measures for development, reconstruction and modernization of fuel and energy infrastructure; formation of a qualitatively new infrastructure for wholesale and retail markets for fuel and energy resources (FER); transition to setting-up abroad the energynodal management mechanism regarding supply and transportation of Russian fuel and energy resources; clarification of measures for coordination and operation of profit centers, corporate financial centers, concentration centers of possession and management of property and financial assets in relation to large Russian energy corporations, including their subsidiaries and associates of the company abroad and others. Technology under consideration is proposed as an integral part of the management technologies of the Russian economy branches in relation to possible economic fluctuations of the world economy under conditions of significant changes related to new political realities in the USA, EU, etc.

The world price of oil is one of the macroeconomic indicators that significantly affect economic parameters of development in various sectors of the economy. Recently, under the influence of the current insignificant increase of this price, the expectations of its inevitable global growth have increased in the society. So, the state regulator has already prepared a number of strategic materials, including the Energy Strategy of Russia until 2035, where the price of oil in the long run returns to the level of 120–140 dollars per barrel. The authors of the article believe that such expectations of the price are not sufficiently substantiated. Moreover, basing projections on high oil prices, the state regulator may give distorted “signals” to Russian business. In this regard, the article gives a consistent argumentation, supported by the authors’ calculations, where they substantiate that the oil price is likely to “fall” into the corridor of a long-term systemic decline. So, in 2035 the price can be estimated at a value of about 35–43 dollars per barrel. The authors of the article, building the evidence base of the oil price declining trend, applying analytical and statistical methods of research, cite the results of calculations for three different variants. The article points out that the regular change in the price vector — from constantly growing to a systemically falling one — should not only form new “signals” for business and state regulator, but should also determine other boundaries for implementation of previously announced programs and forecasts.

The need for large-scale modernization of the Russian electric power industry is out of doubt. What is being done in this respect in the Moscow region and what is planned for the nearest future – the chief engineer of JSC “Energocomplex” Alexander Shabash told about this.

Changing of a conjuncture index of “Economic strategy” (CIES) for January – July 2017 is considered. The contribution of indicators of supply and demand in CIES is estimated. The analysis of industrial production is carried out.

The article analyzes four programs of economic development of Russia, proposed by the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), headed by A.L. Kudrin, Institute of Growth Economics after P.A. Stolypin, created by “Stolypin Club” non-governmental organization of experts and by “Delovaya Rossiya” public organization headed by B.Y. Titov. In addition to these two programs, there is a program of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, established under the leadership of Minister M.S. Oreshkin, and the program “Principles of economic development strategy of Russia until 2030” of the Industry Committee under the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), headed by a well-known industrialist, organizer of the Moscow Economic Forum K.A. Babkin. The programs of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the CSR represent position of the liberal part of the country’s economic elite, including the monetary authorities. The program of Babkin’s CCI represents the industrial elite of the country, and the “Growth Program” by Boris Titov — position of the most active part of the population — Russian business. Based on the analysis and consideration of the proposed programs we will try to answer the question: what can the Russian population expect as a result of implementation of this or that program and the perspective they forecast?

The article dwells on the basic principles and problems of technological development that arise from the specifics of certain technologies. The choice of technological capabilities at the individual and firm level cannot comply solely with the investment logic of decision-making, as the technologies life cycle includes unpredictable effects that can significantly improve the return, which cannot be anticipated at the initial point of transition from one technological opportunity to another. Technologies are characterized by special properties, which have a decisive influence on the course of technological development. And these properties are not characteristic for other types of goods, this fact fundamentally distinguishes formation of demand for new technologies and affects the options for their use. Any technology consists of a kind of nucleus and variable periphery, is characterized by various kinds of animation effects and can also be an integral element of the combinatorial effect in the sphere of technologies. Owing to this “frame” that defines the structure of technology, it acts as a kind of a rule that determines the behavior of agents and conditions for developing the service infrastructure. Existing models of economic growth do not fully take into account the microeconomic institutional properties of technology, creating a pseudo-correct image of technologies’ impact on the system’s growth. In this regard, formation of the theory framework for the economic system processability will provide the necessary guidance in describing and investigating technological and institutional changes and economic growth, which are highly dependent on them. The aggregate productivity of factors also becomes to a significant degree a system parameter, dependent on overall technological applicability and institutional changes. The article describes the main characteristics of functioning of the fundamental research sector, which acts as the generator of all subsequent technological changes in a long range of economic development.

The authors believe that at present under currently existing structure of the economy and industrial relations forming selfsufficient and self-developing integral economic system (IES) is the main prerequisite for further efficient development of Russia as a sovereign social state. The main sufficient condition is an effective economic policy. Moreover, according to the authors, successful implementation of the economic policy without forming the IES is hardly probable. In this regard, the article considers a more detailed substantiation of the need to reform the economy and to form the IES on the basis of a systemic approach and outlines the main directions of economic policy during formation of an integral economic system with regard to foreign effective economic reforms.