Kirghizia Economy

For more than an hour one morning last week, Askar Akayev was saying the most extraordinary things from the podium of an auditorium filled with budding entrepreneurs. He spoke quickly and firmly, quoting from scientists and economists. He spoke of the morality of multiplying money, of the corruption and criminality of communism and of his personal commitment to build Kirghizia, an obscure region at the outer reaches of a crumbling empire, into Asia's most progressive, capitalist state.

For more than an hour one morning last week, Askar Akayev was saying the most extraordinary things from the podium of an auditorium filled with budding entrepreneurs. He spoke quickly and firmly, quoting from scientists and economists. He spoke of the morality of multiplying money, of the corruption and criminality of communism and of his personal commitment to build Kirghizia, an obscure region at the outer reaches of a crumbling empire, into Asia's most progressive, capitalist state.