Andrey Yushkov, PhD student at O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, talks with Michael Alexeev, Professor of Economics at IU, and Leonid Polishchuk, Professor of Applied Economics at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. The three Russia scholars discuss the fiscal, economic, and political consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on Russia's regions. 

At only 1.5% growth per year, the Russian economy wasn't doing very well before the coronavirus hit. How is Russia doing now in the face of a global pandemic? Listen to this podcast segment, where two leading scholars discuss the effectiveness of the Russian government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, the impacts of this response on the Russian economy, as well as what it says about Moscow's relationship with Russia's regions. Despite relatively successful restrictions, the interviewees discuss the profound collateral damage to the private sector, the lack of direct financial support to households, the struggle with the Russian health care system, the disparities among different groups of regions, and the most important trends in the distribution of intergovernmental fiscal transfers, among other factors. They also discuss data reliability and various reasons for surprisingly low fatality rate in Russia and conclude by presenting their own research ideas related to the study of the coronavirus pandemic.