A Putin review for all the fanboys

[Benton]

(12-10-2015, 11:14 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Well to be fair: I don't have to read every word that the good, down the middle, people at The Guardian have to say to know something about the history of the region. I do know that Russia is better off now than when Putin took over and he is relatively tame compared to many other Russian/Soviet Leaders/Czars. Will he ever come to the US and take over the liberal left fan base? No. But they are a different culture and he seems to be well liked over there.  

And...
http://www.economist.com/node/3060477

Not the best article, but there's not a lot online that I'm finding easily. But, basically, Putin had the same benefit Bush had — previous lawmakers stopped spending so much on the military and spent more on welfare (although there I think they call them entitlements) and on infrastructure. Putin, like Bush, came in, ramped up military spending and their unemployment got worse. Their GDP has increased heavily, but that's largely due to exporting natural resources, which are finite.