New Data the Kremlin Hides: Millions of Russians Can't Afford Food or Clothes - Econ Lessons

Hi, this is Dr. Mark. Here, I walk through new, user-generated data on the Russian economy and rebuild a simple household budget for an ordinary Russian today. Using crowd-sourced cost-of-living databases, independent polling (Levada, Gallup, and others), and testimonies from Russians themselves, I put prices and wages side by side: rent, utilities, food, transport, clothing, and a few basic “Western” lifestyle items. Once you stack these numbers against the average net salary, a stark picture emerges—for millions of Russians, the monthly budget does not balance.

I examine why such a large share of households report struggling to afford food, why over half say that at least 50% of their income goes to groceries, and why seemingly modest goals—buying decent clothes, replacing a laptop, going to a restaurant, or taking a short foreign holiday—are drifting out of reach mathematically, not just emotionally. I also show how inflation, a weaker ruble, and wartime fiscal priorities quietly erode living standards even while official narratives still talk about “growth” and “resilience.”

This video is not a moral judgment on ordinary Russians and not a defense of any government. It is an evidence-based walkthrough of what people themselves report paying and earning, and what that implies for everyday life. Suppose you are interested in Russia, sanctions, inequality, or the real human cost behind macroeconomic charts. In that case, this episode offers a calm, data-driven look at how and why millions of Russians can no longer reliably afford basic food and clothing.