Roulette game with the state: the weak ruble brought down the average salary to the level of 2007

The claims that the catastrophe with the ruble does not affect the lives of ordinary Russians in any way is just nonsense, economist Dmitry Prokofiev is sure:

«I have written many times that regular currency/inflation crises in the Russian Federation are 'not a bug, but a feature' — at the macro level they work as a tool for replacing 'capital' „labor“ — the fall in real incomes of people leads to a reduction in labor costs in relation to the value of the Russian Federation-exports — respectively, and to an increase in the profits of exporters, and to the expansion of the government's ability to finance priority tasks for itself.

So, in August 2023, average salaries (before taxes) in the Russian Federation fell to the level of $ 670-680, which is a quarter less than ten years ago, and adjusted for dollar inflation — this is approximately the level of 2007. «Counting in dollars» we earn like fifteen years ago

The same thing happened with ruble savings, which rose sharply last spring (people decided to take advantage of high rates), but inflation and the devaluation of the ruble ate up all the interest (now ruble deposits and cash on people's hands amount to about $530 billion — as it was five years ago, and taking into account dollar inflation — even more less)

It all looks like this, that people over and over again, year after year, sit down to play for money with the government — and lose every time. But the government can also say that people are losing not to him, but to «other people» (we know them, in general), and the government only sets the rules of the game. Like in a casino.»