http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-05/russian-inflation-accelerates-more-than-forecast-to-3-month-high.html
Russia is having problems with inflation. They have a target set of 5% a year but they will surpass that for the third straight month and all those have been in the 6% range. This is causing their central bank to cancel some of their plans to try and help the economy by easing interest rates because that would make the inflation worse. It is also throwing off their plans to attempt too help the economy with lower interest rates.
This is just another economic problem in post Soviet Russia. They never really have recovered from the Soviets and are still struggling. Much of that inflation is lead by food prices rising. That makes it even worse of a problem. That means that it is important daily goods that are leading the rise not other goods.
I'm not that knowledgable about Russian inflation and economic policy, but do you think that the Soviet reign caused this? I'd like to know how if it did. I'm not really debating it; I simply don't know.
ReplyDeleteI think it may be a little bit too late to say that this is a direct outcome from the Soviet Union's regime. Had this sort of thing been reported about more about twenty years ago, when the Union dissolved, maybe that would be a more valid argument. However, since this is more than two decades after that series of events, I would have to believe there has to be more to this than to just blame the Soviet Union's impact on future implications.
ReplyDeleteI think it may be a little bit too late to say that this is a direct outcome from the Soviet Union's regime. Had this sort of thing been reported about more about twenty years ago, when the Union dissolved, maybe that would be a more valid argument. However, since this is more than two decades after that series of events, I would have to believe there has to be more to this than to just blame the Soviet Union's impact on future implications.
ReplyDeleteI can't really say that I know much about Russia's economy but at least in my mind it seems like the inflation problem is less important than getting the economy back on its feet. I would like to know if you ever figure out how Soviet Russia caused this problem because like David, I cannot wrap my mind around how it is still affecting the country economically.
ReplyDeleteI'm not to knowledgeable about Russia's economy but I'm not sure how their inflation problem can stem all the way back to Soviet Russia. I know that in class we learned the the U.S. economy works best when the inflation rate is at 2% so 5% seemed a little high to me but I don't know how these numbers make a difference on the different economies. Either way whatever they're doing now obviously isn't working so they better come up with a solution fast.
ReplyDeleteThe collapse of the Soviet Union actually does have an effect on modern-day Russia's economy. This is because, when the USSR dissolved, there was a very rapid privatization of the Russian economy. During this privatization, much of the state-owned property and businesses were grabbed up by a few ambitious Russian folks, leaving much of the wealth centered in a very small group of super-capitalists. Soon after the collapse, Russia was a near oligarchy. While it has moved away from this economic state, the wealth is still centered around a small number of people, and this has a negative effect on the economy. At least, that's what I read online.
ReplyDeleteYes. This.
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