Tag Archives: government

The bonfire of rationality

Posted on February 28, 2015 by

Yesterday I was going to post a long and detailed entry about Vladimir Putin’s priority list. About the way priorities were exposed during times of crisis and scarcity. I was going to draw a comparison with my college days in … Continue reading →

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Europe’s game – Part 2

Posted on December 8, 2014 by

In the previous entry, I argued that Europe had to push forward with sanctions on Russia, despite the imminent threat of a Russian economic crisis. However, Europe’s game does not end here. It has to carefully observe the movements within the … Continue reading →

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The cost of peace

Posted on September 18, 2014 by

The war in Ukraine is, arguably, a very costly business for Russia’s leaders. No wonder that the political and business elite seem to be increasingly divided on the issue. However, the situation created by the conflict has benefited Russia’s ruling … Continue reading →

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Why sanctions may as well work

Posted on July 25, 2014 by

Two days ago, Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes, two renowned experts on Russia’s economy published a short analysis on the possible effect of European and American sanctions on Russia. The outlook was grim, they concluded: not only were sanctions unlikely … Continue reading →

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Go back to Start, do not collect $200bn

Posted on May 18, 2014 by

Sometimes words can hurt more than actions. Last week, the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi said that capital flight from Russia might be four times as high as reported by Russia’s government. So far, the finance ministry … Continue reading →

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A case against Medvedev #2: the Armenian lesson

Posted on May 9, 2014 by

One of the most publicised reforms carried out during Dmitry Medvedev’s presidency was Russia’s switch to year-round Daylight Saving Time (DST) for economic and health reasons. However, the reform did not quite work out and sparked a lively debate, yet, … Continue reading →

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Storm clouds from Crimea

Posted on April 2, 2014 by

The invasion of Crimea was a reality check for all of us that assumed that Russia had been integrated into a rule-based global system and was working fairly rationally. As I have blogged before, most of us were wrong about … Continue reading →

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