Putin’s Russia is a poor, drunk soccer hooligan

Boston Globe ^ | 06-22-2016 | Scott Gilmore

[NRx]

Russia is not the country you think it is. Its economy is smaller than South Korea’s. Its people are poorer than Kazakhstan’s. It trails Finland in technology. And it has a smaller military budget than Saudi Arabia...

...Russia hosted the Olympics, punched Georgia in the nose, took back the Crimea, invaded Ukraine, flew bombers through NATO airspace, built military bases in the Arctic, and generally flexed and posed like an oiled, aged, but still buff, body builder. And we’ve been paying increasingly rapt attention, not noticing the geriatric walker hidden just off stage. A closer look is almost shocking.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s most recent data, the Russian economy is approximately the same size as Australia and slightly smaller than South Korea. As an exporter, it is now less important than Belgium, Mexico, and Singapore.

And it is poor. The World Bank ranks Russia’s GDP per capita below Lithuania, Equatorial Guinea, and Kazakhstan. A larger proportion of its population lives below the poverty rate than in Indonesia, India, or Sri Lanka. It is ranked 67th in the world in the Global Competitive Index and 66th in the UN’s Human Development Index.

[JoeProBono]

[Patriotic1]

And I believe that it was the name of another newspaper in the USSR, making it very amusing (but sad) wordplay.

[cloudmountain]

And I believe that it was the name of another newspaper in the USSR, making it very amusing (but sad) wordplay.

To me Russia IS a sad place. I never thought that ANYTHING regarding Russia would be amusing. :o)

[MSF BU]

The numbers are skewed because our soldiers are paid very well; the countries that pay professionals well and conscripts much lower have more money for equipment, training, etc.