HEADLINE = Six myths about Russia

STRAP = The media sucks at reporting on Russia. Lazy, shoddy journalism and traditional prejudices still
stuck in the cobwebs of the mind are responsible for the myths that abound.

Russia is dying
This is the most persistent myth and it has got considerable traction in the Western media. It could have
something to do with the fact that Russias population declined from 150 million in 1991 to around 142
million today. But chew on this in 2012 Russias birth rate actually exceeded that of the United States.
This is quite amazing when you consider in 2002 the US had a birth rate that was 75 per cent higher than
Russias.
Mark Adomanis, an expert on Russian demographics and economics, has compared Russian and
American data, (http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2013/07/25/dying-russias-birth-rate-is-
now-higher-than-the-united-states/) and discovered that since 2008 the Russian birth rate has increased
by about 10 per cent while the United States has slumped by about 9 per cent.
Whats scary from Americas standpoint is the majority white population of the United States is in
terminal decline.
(http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/06/13/census_white_deaths_are_outnumbering_white
_births_for_the_first_time_in.html ) In June 2013 the US Census Bureau said the ranks of white
Americans will likely drop with every passing year. Last year the majority of American babies belonged
to minority families, especially Hispanic and Asian. This year the US Census Bureau says more whites are
dying than being born. You get the picture.
To be sure, over the really long term the Russian population will shrink further, as will nearly all
European countries. But history shows us races and nations come and go, and the global demographic
changes constantly.
Bottomline: In 2050 Russians will still be in control of Russia, whereas whites in some Western nations,
especially the United States, would have become minorities.
Russias economy is tanking

At first glance this might sound surprising: didnt Russias economy perform abysmally during the
financial crisis? Isnt their economy going straight towards a hard landing? But its really not much of a
mystery when you really think about it: Russia, and particularly its labor market, rebounded from the
financial crisis very quickly. The sorts of metrics which would be a reasonable guide to family formation
and births, particularly the unemployment rate and the average real wage, are at historically good levels
in Russia. Essentially, Russian wages have never been higher and unemployment has never been lower.
Meanwhile, in the United States, wages are stagnant and unemployment is way above its long-term
trend. This sort of economic malaise has had a predictably depressive effect on fertility.

Russias oil production has peaked
I couldnt make this up. Around 1978, TIME magazine published an article, quoting a CIA study which
predicted the Soviet Union would become a net importer of oil by 1980. (Perhaps the author of that
study was CIA spy George H. Bush, who went on to become President) Well, 25 years on, for the very
first time Russias oil output rose to a new post-Soviet record high of 10.59 million barrels per day in
October 2013. The oil surge has come despite Russia no longer having lost the vast oil and gas fields of
the Central Asian region to the new republics such as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
Despite decades of Western wishful thinking about declining oil and gas production in the country,
Russias oil sector continues to crank up production to new levels.

Homosexuality is a crime in Russia
Thats a lie that has stuck. Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, and lesbianism has never been a
criminal offence. In fact, it was during the Soviet era that male buggery was punishable with a five-
year jail term.