Abstract: The book "Crises and Lessons" by V. Mau was the occasion for reflection on the phenomenon of the permanence of economic neo-liberalism. Whatever happens in the Russian economy, whatever crises happen, whatever devastating consequences there are, the apologists of this ideology always take only one lesson: balance a budget, conduct structural reforms in the neo-liberal manner, create a good (from the point of view of neoliberalism) institutional environment, and everything should be sorted out. But that's not getting better. Why is the neo-liberal model of development failing, what reforms are necessary to be undertaken, what lessons and who should learn – these are the questions that should be answered. The author of the article discusses the views of V. Mau on the evolutionary and revolutionary transformations, nature of the crises, modernization of the economy, and influence of politics on the economy. The author pays attention to the commitment to a single economic doctrine to the detriment of well-known facts, unsubjected crises, and lack of credibility of certain important claims. The conditions of public life in the socio - economic sphere of the modern Russia in the last quarter of the century have been defined by a continuous series of crises. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the government to convince the society that the chosen path is correct. The neoliberal model of the economy clearly outlived itself. Requirements for the change of the path are growing louder and come from a wider circle of people. But what a new path should be like and where it should take people, these questions requires a full and open discussion.