Trump Imitates Russia in a Way No One Foresaw

Look, I know analogies of this kind should not be made lightly.  But when I hear of more and more federal employees being forced to work without pay, I think of a historical stretch in a certain country -- Russia.

In Russia in the 1990's, the IMF required as a price for lending Russia money that it make deep cuts in expenditures, including pay for coal miners.  Fearing the consequences to the economy if coal production fell, the Russian government resorted to the truly desperate measure of running the mines but not paying the miners.  It went on for years, and spread throughout the economy, until the ruble collapsed altogether and the country resorted to barter.

So clearly, analogies of this kind should not be made lightly.  The economy remains strong, although the shutdown is causing problems.  Certainly I am not in the least bit worried that we will face anything like the economic crisis that Russia faced.

It nonetheless remains true that the comparison keeps popping up in the back of my mind.