Russia’s GDP shrank by 4.6% in quarter two, and oil hit a six-month low on Monday morning. Are there signs that the Russian economy can rally? Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue is here. […]
In the last two days we have witnessed an incredible, rapid, steep, and perhaps unstoppable collapse in the value of the ruble. As of 9:15 AM Eastern today, the ruble is down more than 13%. By the time I publish this, that figure will be out of date. One look at today’s graph shows that […]
Staunton, December 13 – Four Russian analysts suggest that the six causes they identify as being behind the collapse of the USSR are again to varying degrees present in Russia today, but what is perhaps more interesting than the causes they do identify is the one that they don’t: the ways in which the six […]
Staunton, November 29 – The continuing decline in oil prices, a political move by the West against Moscow, should cause Russians to recall Stalin’s warning in 1931 that “we are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries and must catch up within ten years. Either we will do that or they will crush us,” […]
A prominent Russian businessman and former State Duma deputy Konstantin Borovoy writes this editorial for Echo Moskvy, a liberal online newspaper. At face value, it is an apocalyptic scare piece, but there is also insight about the geographical integrity of Russia. With the Russian economy sagging, there are now significant structural problems in many of […]
The world is still in the process of recovering from the economic crisis of 2008. However, if one looks at various macro indicators, the external factors are creating an economic environment that should have set Russia up for strong growth. However, the Russian economy is actually shrinking, and a growing number of economists believe that […]
