episode-header-image

May 2025

23m 57s

Why Is Russia's Economy Growing?

About this episode

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, its economy has surpassed most expectations. Last year, Russia’s economy grew more than the United States and Europe and on top of that Russian unemployment is at a record low. What is causing this growth and how are wartime economies different?

Patrick's Books:

Statistics For The Trading Floor: https://amzn.to/3eerLA0

Derivatives For The Trading Floor: https://amzn.to/3cjsyPF

Corporate Finance: https://amzn.to/3fn3rvC

Ways To Support The Channel:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PatrickBoyleOnFinance

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/patrickboyle

Visit our website:

https://www.onfinance.org

Follow Patrick on Twitter Here: https://bsky.app/profile/pboyle.bsky.social

Business Inquiries ➡️ sponsors@onfinance.org

Up next

The UK is a Warning to the Rest of the World

Why has the United Kingdom transitioned from being a global economic powerhouse to a stark warning for other advanced nations. While the United States economy has surged ahead of the rest of the world since the 2008 financial crisis, Britain has remained trapped in a "productivit ... Show More

The Winners & Losers from Trumps New Tariffs

In this episode, we explore the legal and economic fallout of the Supreme Court's landmark decision to strike down the "Liberation Day" tariffs, a move that has left the administration scrambling for a "Plan B". We dive into the "David vs. Goliath" story of VOS Selections, the ti ... Show More

Bitcoin Is Crashing and Exchanges Freezing Up

This podcast explores the 2026 "Deep Freeze" of the crypto market, analyzing why the "digital gold" thesis has failed to protect investors as Bitcoin lags behind the S&P 500 total returns. We dive into the "Victory Paradox"—the irony that Bitcoin’s institutional acceptance throug ... Show More

Recommended Episodes

Why Russia’s wartime economy is starting to crack, with Elina Ribakova

When the EU and US hit Russia with fresh sanctions in 2022, many analysts expected the country’s economy to crack. Instead, Russia has shown strong GDP growth, powered in large part by a massive boost to war-related industries. Now, the effects of that boost appear to be fading. ... Show More

The real Russian economy. With Sergei Guriev

<p>The war in Ukraine is a humanitarian crisis. It is also an economic problem. Sanctions from the US and Europe are meant to make war too expensive for Russia to continue. President Vladimir Putin claims those sanctions have failed and his economy is strong. But what is propagan ... Show More

Russia, Ukraine, and Europe’s war economy

<p>After a period of stalemate between Russia and Ukraine, direct military action has recommenced. Heightened tensions have led to discussions on Europe’s readiness for a ‘war economy’ and the United States is also reportedly considering lifting its ban on Ukraine’s use of Americ ... Show More

15 Key Economic Questions After Russia Invades Ukraine

This episode is sponsored by Nexo, Arculus, and FTX US. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NLW explores 15 key economic questions including: Why isn’t the world going even bigger on sanctions? How is Russia’s economy tied to the rest of the world? Why isn’t Russia ... Show More

The differing responses to the Ukraine crisis

This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in Washington for talks with President Barack Obama, and Ukraine will top the agenda. Washington has led the way on sanctions, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on dozens of senior Russians and scores of companies, in an attempt ... Show More

Block busters: how Russia flouts sanctions

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the West has deployed massive economic restrictions on Russian trade. So why is Russia’s economy growing? A survivor’s story from the forgotten conflict in Sudan (10:47). And Turkey tries to rid its streets of stray dogs (17:56). Listen to what matt ... Show More

Why is Europe falling behind the US?

Even before there was talk of a trade war between the US and EU, Europe was on the economic backfoot. But it wasn’t always the case. In 2008, the EU was the world’s biggest economy - today, the US economy is $9.5 trillion bigger than the EUs. So what has happened?Presented and pr ... Show More

Is the Russian economy being ‘re-Sovietised’?

A group of European finance ministers says that the Russian war economy is deteriorating and has called for increased pressure on Putin’s regime. But is their analysis correct? Plus: we consider the future of the Conservative Party, and revisit Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev ... Show More

How about them assets — making Russia pay for Ukraine

The EU wants to lend €140 billion in cash from frozen Russian funds to Ukraine; Belgium is afraid it will be the one on the hook for paying it back. That’s just one of the tough topics EU leaders discussed as they gathered in Brussels at a meeting devoted to fighting the external ... Show More