Sunday , November 24 2024
Home / Mike Norman Economics / Dean Baker — An Economic Lesson for Tom Friedman: Putin Brought Russia Out of Poverty

Dean Baker — An Economic Lesson for Tom Friedman: Putin Brought Russia Out of Poverty

Summary:
As a long-term columnist at the NYT, Thomas Friedman apparently never feels the need to know anything about the topics on which he writes. This explains his sarcastic speculation that Putin could be a CIA agent, since he has done so much to hurt Russia.For all his authoritarian tendencies, it is likely that most Russians think primarily about Putin’s impact on the economy, just as is typically the case among voters in the United States. On that front, Putin has a very good record. According to data from the I.M.F. Russia’s economy had plunged in the 1990s under the Yeltsin presidency. When Putin took over in 1998, per capita income in the country had shrunk by more than 40 percent from its 1990 level. This is a far sharper downturn than the United States saw in the Great Depression.

Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important:

This could be interesting, too:

Mike Norman writes Oil Price Rises After Trump Phones Putin — Gary Littlejohn

Mike Norman writes WAR ON THE TOILET PAPER FRONT — RUSSIA’S TISSUE BATTLES SWEDES, TURKS, AMERICANS—John Helmer

Mike Norman writes The Kremlin Plans to Modernize Russia, Again — Stephen F. Cohen

Mike Norman writes As Global Growth Stalls, The Russian Economy is Gathering Momentum — Jon Hellevig

As a long-term columnist at the NYT, Thomas Friedman apparently never feels the need to know anything about the topics on which he writes. This explains his sarcastic speculation that Putin could be a CIA agent, since he has done so much to hurt Russia.
For all his authoritarian tendencies, it is likely that most Russians think primarily about Putin’s impact on the economy, just as is typically the case among voters in the United States. On that front, Putin has a very good record.
According to data from the I.M.F. Russia’s economy had plunged in the 1990s under the Yeltsin presidency. When Putin took over in 1998, per capita income in the country had shrunk by more than 40 percent from its 1990 level. This is a far sharper downturn than the United States saw in the Great Depression. Since Putin took power its per capita income has risen by more than 115 percent, an average annual growth rate of more than 3.9 percent....
Counterpunch
An Economic Lesson for Tom Friedman: Putin Brought Russia Out of Poverty
Dean Baker


Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *