The Russian rouble held steady for years at about 30-33 roubles to a dollar.
Last week, it started plummeting and yesterday we saw it go down to 80 roubles per dollar.
The collapse of the rouble has to do with a single thing: the oil prices have gone down.
Russia has no economy. The whole country is not really a country. It is, rather, a corporation that sells oil. Everything else exists as long as oil is sold and fetches a decent price. No effort has been made to diversify the country’s economy. This is why Russia is so beholden to the oil price fluctuations.
Oil prices do tend to fluctuate. This isn’t a conspiracy or a result of any “sanctions.” It just happens. For the past 10 years, as the oil prices held steadily high, analysts in Russia kept warning about the problematic nature of such an economy.
Of course, it makes me happy to stare at the charts where the sad trajectory of the rouble can be admired. But let’s not kid ourselves: this doesn’t really matter. This is a small distracting blip that doesn’t change the big picture.
And if Putin stops being the leader of Russia, that will also be a tiny, insignificant blip. There are crowds more where he came from.
Clarissa's Blog 
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