- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
- worldnews
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
- worldnews
You must log in or register to comment.
I’ve traveled to/from Russia a few times since 2022 and this is accurate. A few things I can add:
- I think UnionPay is increasingly accepted for card payments in more shops, so possibly China could be another “friendly” country to open a bank. UnionPay cards can be applied for in places like the US, but I think UnionPay cards issued by the US don’t work in Russia.
- She listed Turkey, Dubai (UAE), and Georgia as layovers to enter Russia. Another way which is used by Europeans is to cross by bus through Narva, Estonia. But this recently became more complicated because the Narva crossing is over a bridge which is now under construction. Now, you must cross the border bridge by foot and transfer to a different bus after passing border control. Unfortunately, Estonia does not allow exporting euros to Russia more than what is needed to reach the destination. So you must take some non-euro cash to fund your trip.
- Turkish Airlines is recently making it more difficult to travel to Central/South America if you have a Russian passport, by preventing Russians from boarding even if their documentation is all correct (visa, return ticket, etc). TA blames this on Mexico and Mexico says they always reserve the right to decide who enters the country. So I sense there is pressure being applied to these countries under the guise of preventing illegal immigration to the US, but in reality as a form of secondary sanctions against Russia.
Mexico is doing that to a lot of countries, not just Russia. Big problem with Colombians getting turned away at immigration too.
2:45 into the video…
I’m looking at the pile of cheeses they have and those prices. Now somebody can correct me, but looking at the blue cheese for 199.99 rub for what looks like a 4 oz (~109g) wedge. Someone please correct me on the size if that doesn’t look like a 4 oz (~109g) wedge.
Now converting that price into USD, it comes out to $2.17. Looking up the prices for the same 4 oz (~109g) wedge in the US, the cheapest I could find was Wal-Mart. The price? $3.78. So to compare in dollars, USans are paying almost twice (and more) what Russians would pay for the same or similar product. Even with sanctions.
I don’t know who sanctions are supposed to hurt, but it damn sure isn’t the Russians.
who sanctions are supposed to hurt
Yes, with the ancillary benefit that it’s causing some austerity here in the US too.
To be fair, the median for income in Russia is somewhat lower, but yeah prices aren’t exactly skyrocketing there.
that’s some expensive cheese, a typical price for cheese here is around 1 ruble for 1 gram (you can get it like 2x cheaper if you buy cheap cheese)
also, I haven’t watched the video but cheese is typically sold in 200g packs
Wouldn’t that relatively low price be offset by Russian salaries being way lower than American ones? Even the median salary in Moscow, where the creator lives, is significantly lower. Recent figures on purchasing power in Russia only go back to 2022, where $1 is equivalent to approx. 30 rub. (source: OECD) That would make the “true” price of that wedge of cheese $6.67
My mother is Russian and has some contacts and family in Russia. She went to Saint Petersburg last year for personal matters. She often talks about how little the ruble is worth and things being more expensive. Is she exagerrating?
But doesn’t both the US and Russia have their salaries/wages lower relative to their prices though? I’m not sure how many Russians are below their median wage but in the US, it’s something like 50% of earners are below the median US wage.
Eli mentioned that inflation had hit Russia (“prices are higher than 2 years ago, but when weren’t they rising?” ~2:08 in) but from what she said, it seems like the rise is not as bad. In the US, what I’m noticing is that the rise in prices have been sharper in comparison to, in this instance, Russia. The inflation rate in the US for 2022 was listed as 8.0% - way above the 1.5% to 3.5% we usually notice. For 2023, the rate was 4.1% - still high for most US wage earners. I was barely at the median US wage for 2022 and 2023 and those grocery prices hurt back then. While with 2024 being an election year there is some calm in prices, we have the stagflation storm coming to the US.
I don’t think your mom is exaggerating, especially with regards to the ruble. But I do think people underestimate how bad things have gotten in the imperial core. People here can barely afford to eat and most are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Yeah, we might be cool zone imminent (doubtful).
Uh, a median wage will always have 50 percent of people above and below it, because that’s how a median is defined: as the middle of a number sequence.
I think you meant the average wage, which is ~$60,000 in the US and in Russia it’s $15,000 (nominal) or $41,333 (PPP*). For reference, the average income for Poland is $21,000 (nominal) or $49,000 (PPP*). Two-thirds of Americans earn below $60,000. Russia’s income inequality is similar to that in the US: both seem to have a Gini coefficient around 0.4. Therefore, we can assume that it’s a similar distribution in Russia, aka two-thirds earning below $15,000 (nominal) or $41,333 (PPP*). (*2022 PPP values from OECD)
Taxation also affects things. An NYT article mentions this (April 27, 2024):
Most Russians pay income tax at a flat rate of 13 percent, significantly lower than what taxpayers in the United States and Western Europe typically pay. In an interview in March, Mr. Putin said he planned to introduce a new progressive tax scale in part to alleviate poverty, a popular message among many Russians who support increasing taxes on the country’s rich, which have historically been low. The article is about the government looking to raise the tax rate to 15 percent for people earning above $10,000 (nominal).
Using official statistics, consumer prices in Russia since February 2022 have risen by 20-21% in total. For the same time period it’s 14% in the European Union and 10% in the United States. This is similar to their inflation rates for 2022+2023. If I add up month-on-month CPI increases for the period by hand, it’s 56% for Russia, 18% for the EU, and 40% for the US. I don’t know where that discrepancy comes from, did I do something wrong? I used Consumer Price Index data from Tradingeconomics.com
Finally there’s incomes. Wage growth in the EU and US is on average similar to their inflation rates. But in Russia it’s 36%, significantly higher than the inflation rate of 21%. Of course there’s the matter of how that growth is distributed, but at a first glance it suggests that not as many Russians suffer from the higher prices as the high inflation rate would suggest, though this will vary by region.
Consumer Price Index, month-on-month change in percentage points
Blue: Russia
Green: European Union
Red: United States
is russia facing more sanctions than NK and cuba rn?
Definitely more than DPRK given that UN sanctions against them have just been lifted. Meanwhile, Cuba is sanctioned by US, and most countries aren’t participating. Meanwhile, Russia is being sanctioned by the US and all their vassals.
UN sanctions against them have just been lifted
Oh shit nice
Russia vetoed renewed sanctions 🤣
Incredibly shocked that the most sanctioned country vetoed sanctions
:)
Cuba is sanctioned by US, and most countries aren’t participating.
isnt the blockade making it harder for other countries to trade, even if they are not participating directly?
Yes. Americans will seize vessels heading toward Cuba, sanction companies that trade with them, forbid any vessel that enter a Cuban harbor to anchor at an american harbor for months on end, if ever. Not to mention all the behind the doors rat-fucking they do.
The Economic War Against Cuba by Salim Lamrani goes into all of this if anyone is interested.
It does, but vast majority of the world, including US allies like Canada, doesn’t agree with it and trades with Cuba.
Any ship that docks in Cuba can’t dock in the US for like 6 months I think, which screws them over trade wise cuz the nearest port is in Florida so it makes it pretty unprofitable for most commercial shipping companies to do business with them. Who wants to drop buy a small developing island nation port without also going to the wealthy developed nation port right next door?
At 16k sanctions, Russia is the most sanctioned country not just in the world, but throughout history.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/russia-sanctions-database/
i just started watching her vids an hour ago!
she’s got a fun channel
Ingushetia was terrifying
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
