Is Russia’s Economy About to Bust?

Though Putin brags about the Russian economy’s durability despite having had the largest number of sanctions in world history imposed on it, the truth is things may be far from rosy for Moscow: Russia’s economy is skating on thin ice. There are “many troubling signs,” Dr. Volodymyr Lugovskyy told Kyiv Post’s Jason Smart. The Kremlin spent heavily immediately after its full-scale Ukraine invasion began. The rapid increase in spending was able to provide a temporary “sugar high,” alleviating some of the initial pains of the West’s sanctions, but now that high is coming down to reality: Russia is unable to cope with the massive inflation it has created. Lugovskyy, who was born in Ukraine, received his PhD from Purdue University and is an Associate Professor of Economics at Indiana University, where he is now the Chair of the Economics Department. Lugovskyy’s primary research interests include international trade, experimental economics, and financial economics. He has numerous publications in leading journals, such as the American Economic Review, European Economic Review, Journal of Financial Economics, and Journal of International Economics. Answering Jason Smart’s query, as to how bad things will get for Russia, Dr. Lugovskyy’s answer leaves no doubt that the situation is far worse than what Moscow pretends. More stories on our site: Our Twitter: Our Facebook: