Russia’s looming financial collapse — a return to the 1990s or 1918?

In the days since Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Western world has imposed crippling economic sanctions on Russia designed to force extreme costs on the Kremlin for its aggression. In the Biden administration’s words, the measures will “weaken the Russian defense sector and its military power for years to come and target Russia’s most important sources of wealth.”

Russian economy expert and Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow Maximilian Hess says he worries that the looming financial collapse in Moscow could resemble 1918 more than the 1990s. He joins this week’s episode of The Naked Pravda to explain what he means.

Timestamps for this episode:

• (4:25) How bad could this get?
• (8:03) Floating currency and frozen stock trading
• (11:01) The return of a planned economy?
• (12:41) Shortages of critical products
• (15:32) What’s the message behind the sanctions?
• (19:58) Russia’s retaliatory options

Producer, sound editing, and mixing — Kevin Rothrock

Send any questions or comments to kevin@meduza.io

Theme music — Victor Davydov