Sarah Paine

The sorrow of Russia is here they have this incredible land, natural resources and the works.

And they're really hung up on empire, on having lots of territory.

And they live in a difficult neighborhood.

Vita is telling Nicholas, forget about the Asian adventures.

We need to build more railways in European Russia now.

And he was right, because if they could have mobilized better in World War I, you might get some different outcomes.

Also, you might have avoided the food riots in St.

Petersburg, which is what topples the Rolatov dynasty.

If you'd actually provided enough food to St.

Petersburg, maybe you don't have those riots because you have the railways running and things.

And so Russia is a story of misinvestment.

Look at it today.

If Putin had taken all of his oil money and invested it in the transportation grid, because believe it or not, Russia still just does things by train.

Its road systems are appallingly bad.

And if Russia actually cleaned up its legal system, which under the Tsars it hadn't done either, everything is always royal monopolies.

If they had cleaned up these things to allow individuals to make their own investments and make money, it'd be a completely different story.

But Tsars couldn't stand merchants.

Communists hated them even more.

And cultural differences.

And then the Russians aren't known for being meticulous and hardworking the way Japanese are.