A few years ago, I explained why Tucker Carlson was wrong to cite Hungary a role model.
Today, let’s analyze why his (widely condemned) praise of Russia’s economy is utterly delusional.
We’ll start with the big-picture comparison based on data from the IMF, Maddison, the UN, and World Bank. As you can see, Americans are far richer than their Russian counterparts.
The IMF and Maddison data are based on purchasing power parity, so they adjust for the fact that some things are less expensive in Russia (and the Maddison data is based on 2011 dollars, so those numbers would look more like the IMF numbers if based on today’s dollars).
The bottom line is that Americans should not envy the Russian economy, regardless of which data source one prefers.
This does not mean, by the way, that the U.S. economy is perfect. Or that America should be immune from criticism. Most of my professional life has been devoted to trying fix bad U.S. policies. Or trying to prevent new mistakes from happening!
But I’m very grateful that I live in a nation where policy is inadequate rather than a country where policy is terrible.
And even though I’m an economist, I’m also very aware that the United States is also much better when comparing basic political and social freedoms.
Is the U.S. perfect in those areas? My Victims-of-Government page confirms that we have some problems. That being said, we are far better than Russia (where 47-year old political dissidents mysteriously die in Siberian prisons).
Before concluding, let’s return to economic comparisons. Here’s a tweet that captures the difference between a rich country and a struggling country.
And I’ll also cite a few sentences from a 2022 column in the Washington Post by AEI’s Nicholas Eberstadt.
Putin is flailing against the history of modern economic development. The wealth of modern nations is overwhelmingly generated by human beings and their capabilities. Natural resources (land, energy and all the rest) have accounted for a shrinking share of global output for the past two centuries, with no end in sight. …for all its vaunted oil and gas riches, Russia’s export earnings last year were actually lower than Belgium’s. Like other Western democracies, Belgium manages to augment and unlock the economic value residing in human beings. Putin’s petro-kleptocracy is woefully inept on both counts. …Since the invasion of Ukraine, some of Russia’s best talent has been voting with its feet, heading abroad any way it can. …the Russian system produces remarkably little private wealth. According to Credit Suisse, total private wealth in Russia in 2020 amounted to $3 trillion: one-ninth of Japan’s, one-sixth of Germany’s, and scarcely more than Sweden’s (a country with a population 14 times smaller).
The bottom line is that Russia is way behind the United States.
Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant or dishonest. Even those who assert equivalence are wildly wrong.
P.S. I did a similar column last year to show that China’s economy is still very backwards.
I like Tucker Carlson, but I still cringe at his statement that the large number of dollar stores in his state is an unfortunate thing. This is why I could never vote for Carlson if he ran for office. That statement shows a “let them eat cake” view of what it is like to be poor. (Not showing malice, but major ignorance.)
Tucker BAD USA good . Come on man ?
Whose payroll are you on??? Compare
the clean orderly subway to any blue
urban US city’s mass transit. Thug
shoplifting gangs I did see those ?
Graffiti everywhere? Didn’t see that ?
I guess I shouldn’t believe my own eyes ?
Yes, “let’s analyze why his [Tucker’s] praise of Russia’s economy is utterly delusional.”
I saw Tucker show us a subway system that works, and a grocery store that works. IMO that is not praise of an economy – that is a statement directed at number of US Blue states, and Blue cities – “your state or city doesn’t work!”
In a comparison of US Blue city subways, you might be (un)fortunate enough to witness someone being pushed on to the tracks in front of a train right before your eyes. If you missed it, you can catch the video on the news.
In a comparison of Blue state and city stores, you’d likely see a smash-and-grab happen right in front of you – if you could find a store that was not shuttered due to overwhelming theft.
We get it, Tucker.
Criticizing someone for using Excel and citing UN or World Bank data? That seems quite pathetic.
Speaking of pathetic analyses, it’s easy to spot the Excel chart on display comparing per capita GDP. You could have at least used a professional looking chart maker. Reliance upon data from the UN, World Bank, and IMF isn’t exactly the way to convince people that your analysis is beyond reproach.
I understand your take Dan but find it a bit misguided for the first time ever hence the response. The twitter video you referenced of Tucker at a Russian grocery store is not indictive of the the entire Russian economy compared to US but a facet of the inflation that we have faced here in the US because of terrible economic policy only since 2020. Not to say we haven’t had bad policy before, but the helicopter money and businesses that we closed in the name of “science” has had preposterous impacts on purchasing power of everyday Americans. I took a $25k promotion to a new job in 2022 and I feel like I have less purchasing power than I had in 2019 making significantly less money then. The sanctions that “we” placed on Russia when they invaded Ukraine have pushed them away to alternative markets not reliant on the dollar and the inflation that we and other nations standard trading in dollar reserves is vastly different than a nation using alternative market means.
Oh and comment below on Epstein is spot on. We “suicide” alot of people in this nation at the hands of the FBI and CIA.
You seem to have overlooked Jeffrey Epstien’s death in a US prison.
[…] Pathetic Russia Analysis from Tucker Carlson ~ by Economist Dan Mitchell […]
to what extent did the unprecedented economic sanctions affect the Russian economy? Wouldn’t it be dishonest to leave that out of any economic analysis of that country?
Hungary and Portugal inveigled the Ukraine into unilaterally divesting itself of all weapons likely to deter Russia from attacking. What better role model for a con artist?