True, I’ve seen a study by the Chicago economist stipulating that the monthly income of $1600 in Moscow gets you a higher living standard than the annual income of $70,000 in Chicago.
Hamburger in McDonalds costs half a dollar in Russia.
Exactly - it seems Russia has gone through a kind of both domestically, but also internationally imposed deflation - while the West has been on an opposite, debt and consumption fed inflation binge.
These will begin to reverse, probably soon.