A piece by Michael Rochlitz on “The Economic Consequences of Autocracy” has come out in the new issue of the Russian Analytical Digest. In his commentary Michael shows that a steady downturn in economic growth in Russia in the last decade was caused not so much by the fall in oil prices and sanctions, but rather by misguided policies and a complete lack of strategy by the Russian government. In any competitive democratic country, a government with such a dismal economic record would long have been voted out of office. In Russia, however, the regime clings to power by repressing all progressive and alternative ideas and pushing out of the country able young people. And this crackdown is bound to only exacerbate further the dire state of the Russian economy.