Originally Posted by liberty1776

It is indeed true that Russia currently sucks. Given a choice between living here in the good ole US, or living in Russia, I take the US any day. However, let's look at some data and a little history.

Gorbachev resigned in Christmas 1991, ending the Soviet Union. This is where Russia become a seperate country again. Boris Yeltsin becomes the President and quickly ushers in an age of market economies. State owned industries were sold, many regulations lifted, and, tragicly people suffered. That's right, people suffered in a market economy- I can admit it. But this suffering can be accounted for with two ideas.

First, we have the idea that the Russian economy was very messed up for about 70 years. This "messed-upness" isn't going to disappear in a few years. Most of the people living at the time had grown up under communism: capitalism was very new to them. They had to learn how to accumulate capital, save, etc.

Second, the Yeltsin economic policies could not be pushed through in whole. Many labor regulations still existed, and taxes were still sort of high. Also, inflation was soaring. The Russian government was printing money left and right and causing many problems. Many people living off pensions were in trouble. It is no wonder that the commies retained one third of the popular vote.

Through most of the 1990's, under Yeltsin, Russia experienced annual declines in GDP. This decline began in 1990- when Russia was still under Soviet rule. At first, this might seem to be an indictment of free markets. However, there is more to the story.

As I mentioned, it is very hard to go from a command economy to a market ecnomy. It is much easier to go from a poor market economy to a rich market economy, however. So, Yeltsin has gotten Russia to the poor market economy. Enter: Putin. Putin takes over in 1999. He does a much better job of reforming the economy. He instituted a flat 13% income tax, promised to be friendly to business, reigned in the anti-market attitudes of provincial governments. Because of this, tax revenues were raised, budgets reduced, deficits reduced and surplusses created. Putin has remained popular ever since.

But, as I said, Russia sucks now. The Russian percapita GNP is about $2,000; contrast this to America's $38,000. So what gives? Well, let's look at some more data. Russian had a GDP growth rate of 5.1% and 7.7% in 1999 and 2000 respectivly. Contrast this to America's rates of 4.1% and 4.4% in the same years. Russia has had continued growth since then. According to the CIA World Factbook, Russia has had 8 straight years of growth- coresponding to the years of Putin, that is, the free market years. Russian GDP grew 6.7% in 2006. There have been increases in real personal incomes: 12% per year for the last 8 years. The Russian budget has ran surplusses since 2001. The Russian public debt is 8% while the US's is over 64%.

So, yes, Russia sucks- NOW. It is growing much faster than the US- 8 straight years of GDP growth which coresponds to 8 years of Putin (free market) leadership. Give Russia some time, and they will be doin' just fine.