At what lengths is he willing to cause harm to his countrymen?
Does he realize his previous popularity is doomed if he continues this path...
Putin’s New Deal Spells End to 15 Years of Wage Gains
By Henry Meyer, Agnes Lovasz and Evgenia Pismennaya Dec 8, 2014 4:22 AM ET
Vladimir Putin’s confrontation with the U.S. and Europe augurs a new deal for his 144 million subjects.
Instead of the rising living standards he’s delivered the past 15 years in exchange for the public’s acquiescence, the Russian president now holds out declining wages and more austere lifestyles as the price of swollen national pride.
The first signs of discontent are appearing. Doctors protested Nov. 30 over job cuts and Putin ordered a freeze in inflation-linked pay raises for some government employees. Keeping dissatisfaction at bay will be costly too: Putin may exhaust more than half of the nation’s $420 billion of reserves -- down from almost $600 billion in 2008 -- within two years.
“There’s been a social contract in place in Russia whereby the population understood that its living standards will continue to improve even if political freedoms are limited, but now living standards are taking a hit,” said John Lough, an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program in London. “This is going to affect public attitudes and it’s going to put pressure on the system and on Putin personally.”
It’s a watershed moment for Putin, whose first two terms in power coincided with oil prices rising from about $25 a barrel to a peak of $140 during a decade-long run. His emergence ushered in an era of stability and prosperity after the wrenching transition from the breakup of the Soviet Union, when the government was often unable to pay salaries and inflation wiped out small savers.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-07/putin-s-new-deal-spells-end-to-15-years-of-wage-gains.html
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