Many people watch the ruble’s decline as if it were some abstract chart. Well, it’s falling and falling. Just a market graph. Sort of like the chart for orange juice concentrate prices.
It gets a lot more depressing when you start estimating how much of what surrounds you is imported: what you eat, what you wear, and what you use in everyday life in general.
So far, many importers have not yet raised prices on their products in line with the ruble’s exchange rate, but unless a miracle happens, unpleasant surprises await us by New Year’s (when consumer spending rises sharply). We will have to feel it in our own wallets: that new mobile phone you buy for your school-age child is purchased abroad in dollars. And those dollars now cost nothing like the “around 30” rubles we had grown used to.
The talking heads on TV (literally “zombie box,” a derogatory Russian slang term for television) can joke all they want about how sanctions only hurt lovers of Parmesan and oysters. Just out of curiosity, I calculated what everyday goods that everyone buys cost at today’s exchange rate. No oysters or foie gras.
On January 1, 2014, the dollar exchange rate was 32.6587 rubles.
On November 5, 2014, the dollar stood at 44.95 rubles (at the opening of the Moscow Exchange).
So:
A Lego set for your child. US$74.95.
On January 1, it cost 2,448 rubles; today it costs 3,369 rubles. You will pay an extra 921 rubles.
An Apple MacBook Pro laptop. US$1,899.99.
On January 1, it cost 62,051 rubles; today it costs 85,404 rubles. You will pay an extra 23,353 rubles.
Women’s Nike sneakers. Size 8.5. US$137.
On January 1, the sneakers cost 4,474 rubles, and today they cost 6,158 rubles. You will pay an extra 1,684 rubles.
Men’s Levi’s jeans. Size 30x32. US$49.99.
On January 1, they cost 1,633 rubles; today, 2,247 rubles. You will pay an extra 614 rubles.
A Samsung Galaxy S3 mini phone. US$157.60.
On January 1, it cost 5,141 rubles; today it costs 7,084 rubles. You will pay an extra 1,933 rubles.
Remember how people joked about the sanctions? They turned out not to be so funny after all.
At the same time, let me remind you that the 2015 budget assumes inflation of 5.5%. And the Economy Ministry’s current inflation forecast for the end of 2014 is 7.5%. You can judge for yourself how far these figures are from reality.
Yes, yes. I understand that these figures are far from reality. I’m just feeling gloomy along with everyone else, and maybe even more than the average Russian—I’m under house arrest, with my bank accounts frozen. I have no idea what my rubles will be worth by the time—if ever—the arrest is lifted.
And the most infuriating part is that all of this was caused by one man. By his madness, his imperialist fervor, and his desire for a “victorious war” to boost his approval ratings. So when you buy sneakers that cost 1,684 rubles more, you should understand: that’s what you’re paying for—his ratings.
P.S. Don’t forget to vote, our momentum has dropped. Not good.