Shuvalov Upbeat on Crisis

Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service today announced that the total number of unemployed Russians stood around 6.4 million people last month (8.5% of the economically active population) – a 4.9% increase on January figures.  And yet, amazingly enough, the Kremlin is continuing to promote the fiction that the economic crisis is fully under control.  What happened to Dmitry Medvedev’s more realistic call for criticism?  Interesting to note that, in contrast, the ever-optimistic Shuvalov is Vladimir Putin’s right-hand-man….

From The Moscow Times:

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, a leader of the government’s anti-crisis campaign, tried to calm Russians: “The current anti-crisis plans are formulated so that even under the most adverse conditions, our model for the country’s economic growth through 2020 will be strategically executed — with some tactical corrections.”

Of course, Shuvalov is no Cicero and therefore gets his thoughts a little bit mixed up, but the idea is clear enough: The crisis won’t damage Russia. It follows that none of the government’s current policies or strategies requires corrections because it is doing everything right. And if, by chance, something does not work out as it should, it can be fixed with “tactical corrections.”

Who actually believes all of that? Probably only those who believe in abominable snowmen, UFOs, witches, demons and Santa Claus.