The sharp increase in military expenditure, expected to more than double by 2024 to 6 percent of GDP, has meant that the budget is in deficit by about 2.8 percent, but this is eminently sustainable since public debt is low at barely 20 percent of GDP. Because of conscription, large-scale emigration, and government spending on military production, unemployment is low at just 2.9 percent. Inflation at 7.5 percent is high, as are interest rates at 12.4 percent — partly to protect the ruble, which has fallen by about 20 percent since the war began 22 months ago. But the stock...