The BBC has put together a fascinating statistical analysis of Russia during the Putin years.
The analysis has graphs aplenty, covering the Russia’s economy, Energy, Population (including a revealing statistic about HIV prevalence in Russia) and the Military. Sometimes the stats are standalone, sometimes in comparison to other countries. But all are well worth a quick look.
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I hope you’re enjoying your vacation Andy.
In fairness to Yeltsin, economic trends are often cyclical. Yeltsin held office during troubling times for Russia, which would’ve probably existed no matter who was president.
Thats true!
The precipitous decline of the Russian economy has hyperinflation to blame for a good bit of the problem – which the central bank, not Yeltsin himself, fuelled, I believe.
Further, the graph can be understood as showing the inevitable collapse of an overstated GDP and a reversal of fortunes well before Putin came into office.
Does that all seem fair?
Yeah.
Upon its collapse, the USSR was in decacy for a couple of decades.
The chaos from the manner of the Soviet breakup was profound.
Russia “takes a licking, but keeps on ticking” is an ongoing theme in its history.
Granted, that Yeltsin’s government did some stupid things. Regardless, Russia still would’ve been hurting during that period.
Didn’t russia lose something like 40% of it’s economy after Yeltsin privatized the industries? I believe Nobel Prize winning economist Stiglitz established as much:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,932674,00.html
BTW how is the collapse of the USSR economy inevitable exactly? It seems like that is more or less assumed without warrant.
In the last 20 years or so of the Soviet Union’s existence, the Soviet economy was going down.
In the short term, the Soviet breakup enhanced that condition because of the confusion resulting from that breakup. Tacked on to that were some not so coherent policies.
As nation’s industrialize their growth rates tend to decline. Compare the US growth rate (3.3%) to India’s (9.3%). Do you honestly think that is because India has a more efficient economic system?
In the present: along with Russia, China and Brazil, India has a growing economy.
As for your question, the answer is a conditional no.
I gather that economics is your specialty.
Putin and Shevardnadze said that when they first assumed office as CPSU Gen. Sec. and FM respectively, they saw first hand how fucked up the Soviet economy had been during the years just prior to their political upgrade.
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