Russia's economy is paralyzed, and Putin's war machine survives on cannibalizing state-owned firms, Yale researchers say
"We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that all is good for Putin, and we cannot jettison effective measures to pressure him," Yale researchers said.
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- Russia's economy is paralyzed, and its war machine survives by cannibalizing state-owned firms.
- That's according to Yale professors pushing back on commentary that Putin is one 2023's big winners.
- "We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that all is good for Putin," they said.
Russia's economy is paralyzed, and its war machine survives on cannibalizing state-owned firms, two Yale researchers said.
In an op-ed in Foreign Policy on Friday, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian pushed back on recent commentary that cast Russian President Vladimir Putin as one of 2023's big winners amid signs of economic resilience.
But Western sanctions and the mass exodus of multinational companies from Russia have inflicted huge costs on the nation's economy, they said.
"We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that all is good for Putin, and we cannot jettison effective measures to pressure him," Sonnenfeld and Tian wrote, adding that transferring "worthless" expropriated assets from Western firms to Putin's cronies didn't make Russia wealthier.
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They also listed several other signs that Russia's economy had been reeling.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, at least 1 million Russians have fled to other countries, including top tech talent. That's contributed to a labor shortage that's nearing 5 million workers and has stoked high inflation.
Meanwhile, $253 billion in private capital left Russia between February 2022 and June 2023, Sonnenfeld and Tian said, citing the Russian central bank's data.
In addition, Russia has lost access to Western technology and expertise that its companies relied on, while foreign direct investment has nearly dried up.