Managing poverty, you manage the country: how the state regulates the income of citizens

According to the auditors of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, in 2020 the share of social payments in the structure of incomes of Russians exceeded 20%. At the same time, according to Rosstat, “income from entrepreneurship” decreased from 6% in 2019 to 5.2% in 2020; “From property” - from 5.1% to 4.3%; “Other” (mainly “gray”) cash receipts - from 12.3% to 10.6%.

This means that you won't make much money "past the authorities" now, economist Dmitry Prokofiyev comments on these figures. - But the dependence of people "on the budget" has become more:

“Well, and all the talk of the bosses about“ income growth ”the Accounts Chamber refutes: at the end of 2020, the welfare of Russians was“ approximately at the level of 2010-2011 ”. The report contains a wonderful wording - “due to the weak dynamics of income after the crisis of 2014–2016, incomes did not have time to return to pre-crisis values, and 2020 only exacerbated the situation.” Weak income dynamics among people, you understand - this is despite the fact that the "government budgets" are bursting with money.

Social payments helped to avoid the growth of poverty in the country, the Accounts Chamber concludes, but this is not an increase in living standards. There has been no growth for 10 years already.

Again this damned milestone of 2010-11 is the moment when people's incomes allowed them to hope for gaining subjectivity. But the authorities decided otherwise.

The conspiracy theorist will say that for 12 years the bosses have not been able to decide among themselves how to guarantee each other the safety of their tens of billions of dollars. They cannot find an option that would suit everyone.

Hence the strategy of "managed poverty" - for people to shake about their "payments" and do as they are told. Hence the clearing of the political field - in order to prevent someone from dividing it up. Hence the readiness to grasp at the most fantastic "ideas".

In general, until the bosses decide how to protect their well-being, you can forget about the growth of people's well-being. Actually, the Accounts Chamber states this..."