Living Standards and Russia

Russia: Yes, quite a lot of economic and financial damage had already been done, popular living standards were strongly impacted by the ruble crisis and the subsequent spike in inflation and the banking sector was being held together with bubblegum and duct-tape, but a plausible narrative could be constructed in which Russia had gone toe-to-toe with the West and emerged a bit scuffed but basically intact, according to The Moscow Times. Now, however, it is obvious for all to see that Russia is in for a much rougher ride than initially expected. Oil was cautiously rebounding into the $70 a barrel range, the economy was faring modestly better than expectations, inflation was starting to moderate, and the ruble had recovered a good deal of its earlier losses against the dollar, and the Central Bank was confident enough in the economy prospects to begin gradually ratcheting down its emergency rate increase. Pretty much all of the trends that, in the spring, served as the basis of cautious optimism have reversed. Persistent oversupply makes any short-term rally an unlikely prospect. Even after a modest rally earlier this week, the price of Brent crude sits around $50 a barrel, substantially lower than it was just a few months ago. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.