Falling oil prices over several years lead to Russian decline
Editor:
Mr. Fine mentions the Russian stock market has benefited from the recent events in Iraq. What he failed to mention is the Russian GDP peaked in 2013 at 2,297 billion US dollars. The current level is less than 1,700 billion US dollars.
This compares to the US GDP which is over 21,000 billion. I don’t believe our current President was in office in 2013. Much of the Russian decline is caused by falling oil prices.
Technology and changes in regulatory requirements have made energy more affordable thus weakening countries that have commodity-driven economies. Middle East tension impacts energy but not to the level it was in the past.
Ed Urbanik
Lyndonville
