1) “Two Russians meet in Moscow at night… one says, ‘Hey look at this tie I bought last week for $200!’ The other man responded, ‘You’re an idiot. You could have bought that tie yesterday for $500’”

2) My Russian friend told me this joke because he explained to me that he is very passionate about Russia’s economy, and that the reference to inflation in this ties into some of the issues that he wants to contribute to solving through Russian politics.

3) This joke was told to me in a set of four while my Russian friend and I were playing video games. 

4) This joke is essentially implying that at a point, inflation in Russia was so severe that $500 became worth less than $200 within the span of a few days. This ties into Russia’s economic conditions. After the days of collectivization and transition through the Cold War era now to the regime of Putin, Russia has struggled with economic identity. The link between communism, desires for small market openings, massive bribes and corruption have created an economic condition where trust between individuals is diminished, and when trust is diminished, so is currency.