Why is Russia so poor?

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wenteast

Due May 4th -- I know you love your country, but your glorious rendition of the state of Russian health care -- while disparaging America's!!! -- stands in stark contrast to the fact that Russian life expectancy is dropping, and the country is depopulating.

â™¥Cyan Rowan E. born May 1stâ™¥

wow r u asking people to do ur homework for u? lol cheater

just one thing to add...to Mimi...education and medicine is actually what most of the money goes to, in Russia we have the best education you can get in the world. and the medicine wise, we have free health care for all citizens, also the best health care bc doctors don't misdiagnose u like they do in USA cuz they don't get more money out of it since they have a settled salary they get from the government, while here in US doctors only care bout money mostly.

EDIT: first of all, i'm not a Russian patriot, i moved from Russia to USA, both countries have their ups and downs. everyone keeps saying how Russia is poor, and yet USA is in dept up to its' ears and no1 wants to talk bout that huh? second of all, yes, the general medical health care IS great, but getting surgeries done is different thing, which is why for certain things people go to other countries to get certain kinds of surgeries done, just like some Americans go to other countries to see specialists for their surgeries, so Russia isn't the only one. every country in the world has its sh*ty side to it.

ps. to Squeaky, b4 u diss Putin, look at what G. Bush has done to this country! he almost ran this country into the damn ground! or r u in denial bout that too and very happy w/ how he's led this country?

Michael D

Am I doing your home work?

Russia poor? Many Russians are,but Russia isn't. Moscow is the world's most expensive city now. After the communist system collapsed in1992,local Mafias took control of a lot of areas,and many of them still operate. Russia is a wealthy nation now,but with a massive difference between the rich and the poor. The area of Russia is huge compared to UK,and the population is huge too. It'll take a long time before the wealth gets through to everyone.if it ever does with so much corruption in the place.They've got enough coal,oil,gas,metal ores and agricultural land to supply half the world if they had to. Be very afraid. If they get their act together they could to be a very big force in the world,and the way Putin's going it won't be very friendly either. If they link up with China,their combined force would be very difficult to beat. So we have to keep good relations with China.Russian spending on the military is only a tenth of what USA is spending at the moment. It could change.

bo dji

Russia is not poor - actually the natural resources are wasted by the local and central government. There are not also investment in local people.

mzJakes

Most cases poverty can be traced to massive corruption in the government.

007

Russia is not poor, where did you get this question?

Keith B

I would answer that the main reason is misfortune for the people and mismanagement by the governement. It is a very interesting country with a very long and interesting history. It was the state of the economy for the average Russian that led to the Russian Revolution. Of course the people thought they were disposing of the Czar and things would get better. Instead they got a much worse government and worse leaders. Socialist control over the economy prevented them from ever reaching any level of potential. With the resources available Russia should be a wealthy nation. But you can't "piss" it all away for decades and expect to we wealthy. In Recent years things were slowly getting better mostly because of oil wealth. But now that prices are down it will be tough. The Russian people are used to a tough life. There are some very rich Russians but most are average to poor. Most people live in the small apartments that were built during the soviet times. Imagine a city with a population of 250,000 people and not a single house. That is most of Russia. Most cities have villiages where you can find houses but only a few of those. On average a middle class Russian earns perhaps $1,000 to $1,200 per month. And it is not cheap there like it is in third world countries. So, it is a tough life at times. I know a nice woman there and her husband was working as a welder in a small town and he only earned $250.00 per month. The people are resourceful and resilient. Despite the tough times they have many ways to celebrate and enjoy life.
Russia is the largest country in terms of land extending from eastern europe across asia to the Pacific Ocean. There is only one language. Despite it's size land wise the population is small. Russia's population is less than half of the USA and continues to shrink.
They are good people with bad breaks for leadership.

Why so cynical?

No, seriously, is this what Americans think about Russia? Oh God....

Mimi

That is right - Russia-the country is NOT poor because of it's natural resources. Most of the people are poor (and its a shame for russian corrupted government). The infrastructure is poor, their own production and agriculture are poor, the education system and social area don't get too much funding. Medicine is pooooor.
But 3-5% of all the population are actually very rich.
So it is all very controversial.

to - Due May:

Why wouldn't you just check the FACTS instead of making
empty statements
http://www.webometrics.info/top4000.asp
There is NO single University in Russia that would make it even into 100 world's top school!
If medicine in Russia so good, then why as it comes to
complicated treatment, people from Russia tend to go to Germany or USA?

stefan srbija

Russia is the second richest counry first USA then second Russia

sesso

A few bullet points-

Ageing population - Most people are over 45 and a lot are of retirement age. Smallish percentage of people is under 30.

Rebuild From Planned Economy - To Market Economy

Yeltsin - Uneffective unlike Putin. First 8 years after USSR collapse were wasted because of him. Only in the Putin and now Medvedev years has Russia started to rebuild.

Low Birth rate/High death rate/immigration(Population decline) - Related to the ageing population. More people dyeing then being born. High skilled Russians that leave the country for the West are usually replaced with low skilled immigrants from central and east Asia. Russian population would be about 100m by 2050 if this continues.

The country is huge - border control needs money.

Old professions no longer needed - many USSR educated people have developed skills no longer useful e.g. sewing or something.

The climate- Roads need to be relayed every year in some parts as expanding ice creates cracks in the turf in the winter. A lot of gas supplies are needed for the people.

But there are also many positives for Russia to look forward to. Once the population stabilises and the population pyramid will look more balanced Russia will have the upper age on countries like UK, India, USA and Holland where the rising population will mean there will need to be a lot of money invested in making sure the situation doesn't get out of hand.

Then there are the natural resources. The climate is poor but the land with its resources makes up for it. Siberia especially has a lot of wealth. Also there is a huge gap between rich and poor. Russia has more billionaires then almost all other countries in the world. If the gap stabilises and the weath is shared a bit more the people will benefit.

Mendeleyev

Russia will need to invest heavily in it's military technology. So many discoveries and inventions will come from this which will benefit not only the military but also the Russian people. The benefit to the economy would be immediate and the long term effects would be lasting. Unfortunately however, Russia is not governed by civilized people. It is now run by a committee of Oligarchs who are fattening their own bank accounts with little regard for the babushka selling tomatoes on the street. Corruption at the highest levels will siphon off any investment the country would now make in it's people.

I dream of a democratic Russia. It doesn't have to be modeled after the USA or the UK. It should fit Russian needs. But you can't have a country where civil rights, property rights and individuals have no voice and where the rule of law, both moral and constitutional, is a joke. And today it is a joke. One man cannot appoint all the governors and mayors, outlaw opposition parties and NGO's, limit legal demostrations to one person at a time, and send OMOH to jail babushkas and teenagers who don't agree with Kremlin policy while calling it's a "managed democracy."

I dream of a Russia with a free and honest press. And no, RUSSIA TODAY is neither free nor honest. I know so many Russian journalists, born and living in Russia, who love Russia, but also love life and are deeply afraid to speak and write how they truly think and feel.

I hope of a Russia which will someday invest in it's people and infrastructure. It is "third world" to have no border to border modern highway system. The rail is wonderful and should always be a part of Russia's modern transportation system, but it's shouldn't be Russia's ONLY national transport system. Building highways will provide jobs and stimulate growth and commerce in small towns and regions which are hanging on barely to survive economically.

Revamping Russia's medical care and hospital system, "third world" in about 80% of the country, will help Russia raise falling birth rates. Russia needs to stem the population loss. When the life span of a Russian male averages 57 years old, something is terribly wrong!

Russia should spend BILLIONS on bridges, schools, libraries and orphanages as quickly as possible to improve the life of her people. But not today. Corruption would drain the coffers dry before any work could be done. If the Kremlin can send in the riot police against babushkas and kids, could also those brutes be used for the purpose to help straighten out crooked police, politicans and oligarchs? But such would come too close to home so don't expect that anytime soon.

Russia (outside of Moscow and St Petersburg) is poor because as President Dmitry Medvedev has pointed out, internal corruption has killed the economy.

Squeaky P

Their economy is narrowly focused on natural resources. They did not invest their capital coming in from the "boom" years (it was spent on the yachts, bentleys and taken out of the country). Now Russia is close to bankruptcy because of this, the falling ruble tells more truth than Pervy Kanal's Kremlin propoganda.

In a bigger perspective, they will need a lot more time to reverse the effects of 70 years of mismanaged economy plus a devastating war. The population decline is not helping matters. Without rooting out corruption in the market (that includes the university system) they will never get above the relative per person wealth of Poland.

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