Re: “The Russian economy is nearly twice South Korea’s.”
The data is a complete jumble.
The World Bank and United Nations report 2014 numbers, which precede the crash in oil prices and the Russian Ruble.
The IMF and CIA report 2015 numbers, which are wildly distorted because of the Ruble crash.
Even trying to make sense of it by using PPP numbers (Purchase Power Parity) looks crazy.
In 2015, Russia’s “Nominal” GDP (measured in Rubles) is less than one third of its “PPP” GDP, which is a huge difference.
I heard the sanctions are even slowing down Putin’s theft.