© Evgeny Biyatov / Sputnik
Low inflation is not always good for the economy. However, for Russia, whose economy has been dominated by skyrocketing inflation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it's a good sign.
Inflation in Russia now stands at 2.18 percent, and for the first time ever it is lower than US inflation, which is currently 2.2 percent.
This is another record low for Russia. In 2017, consumer prices rose by only 2.5 percent. In 2016, there was 5.4 percent growth.
Thus, inflation has more than halved in a matter of a couple of years.Such low inflation is unprecedented for Russia. For almost a quarter of a century the economy has lived through much higher rates of consumer prices growth. In the 1990s there was hyperinflation typical for the poorest countries: 2,509 percent in 1992, 840 percent in 1993, and 215 percent in 1994.
The situation improved only in 2000, when prices rose by 20 percent. The last time inflation in Russia was double-digit was in 2015 - 12.91 percent. And this year, inflation is approaching just 2 percent, half of the Central Bank of Russia's target of 4 percent per annum.
Comment: Imagine if this was a man kissing a teenage girl. There would have been dozens of furious liberal thinkpieces written before the show had ended.