The paper analyzes specific features of the world economy in the 2000s; the prospects of the innovation competition between the United States and China are discussed; the positions of Russia in the global economy is assessed based on the results of the new phase of the international economic comparisons project; a comparative analysis of the macroeconomic trend data for Russia, developed and developing countries has been made. The forecast of the economic growth trends prepared by the Institute of the World Economy and International Relations is provided. It is concluded that the difficulties in the adaptation of the country to the new realities, the chronic nature of the delay in building the vector for the innovative modernization of the economy create threats of the development gap and loss of many achievements of the 2000s.