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The Russian parliament is discussing several drafts of a law which will oblige civil servants to transfer all their foreign-based assets and property back home to Russia. This measure has clearly been designed to please the public; however the authorities are divided over its application. The government feels it will discriminate against civil servants, whereas President Vladimir Putin and the ruling United Russia party are all for it. The political significance of this discussion is clear – especially since both the authorities and the opposition agree that anti-corruption measures are needed. But this issue also touches on something more interesting: a phenomenon that links Russia (despite all its local peculiarities) with the rest of the world. In any country, the ruling classes...