Andrew, Andrei Illarionov, Putin’s former free-market guru, is on record as saying that the Russian economy would have shrunk last year were it not for the rise in the price of oil. Andrei Nikolaievich is also helping to organize a conference of opposition groups soon. Announcing it, he said:

“The model the official Russia is pursuing is the model of monopoly: a monopoly on the economy, on business, on politics and on so-called managed civil society and on ideology…There can be no such thing as a monopoly. … We have to present the alternatives so that the country realizes it has a choice.”

When Putin had Illarionov on board, he did introduce some welcome reforms. He’s abandoned those because he has the crutch of high oil prices to lean on. There’s a book to be written about how increasing freedom can solve the oil prices problem, so I don’t propose to get into it here, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pointing out the damage Putin’s policies are currently causing to Russia and Europe.