Finance & economics | Crime, then punishment

As Europe falls into recession, Russia climbs out

Real-time data show a subdued but strengthening economy

A waiter prepares a table in one of the panoramic view restaurants showing former hotel Ukraine (R), one of the seven 1950's Stalin skyscrapers - now a hotel of Radisson chain, and skyscrapers of Moscow's International Business Centre (Moskva City) in Moscow on September 5, 2022. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)

These days Russians do not have much to boast about, so they take what they can get. Social-media trolls are posting videos, intended for European audiences, showing gas stoves left on full blast. What might cost hundreds of euros in Berlin comes to a few roubles in Moscow. The taunting is childish, but it hints at a deeper truth: the economic war between Russia and the West is at a delicate moment. While Europe teeters on the brink of recession, Russia is emerging from one.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Crime, then punishment”

The world China wants

From the October 15th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

China meets its official growth target. Not everyone is convinced

For one thing, 2024 saw the second-weakest rise in nominal GDP since the 1970s

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the launch of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 10th 2025

Ethiopia gets a stockmarket. Now it just needs some firms to list

The country is no longer the most populous without a bourse


Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan

Are big cities overrated?

New economic research suggests so


Why catastrophe bonds are failing to cover disaster damage 

The innovative form of insurance is reaching its limits

“The Traitors”, a reality TV show, offers a useful economics lesson

It is a finite, sequential, incomplete information game

Will Donald Trump unleash Wall Street?

Bankers have plenty of reason to be hopeful