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Konstantin Sonin photo

Konstantin Sonin

Konstantin Sonin is a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Articles

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week 2024

Opinion: Putin’s economic gamble is a ticking time bomb for Russia’s future

by Konstantin Sonin
Two and a half years after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian economy seems like a riddle wrapped in an enigma of competing narratives. If you want to argue that the economy has been hobbled by Western sanctions, by the Kremlin’s prioritizing of military spending over everything else, and by successful Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, you can find plenty of evidence to support your view. But if you want to highlight the Russi