The lowdown on rural poverty

"Today, the hamlets dot a forsaken land of rampant poverty where men drink from morning to night. The interconnected crises of low fertility, high death rates and ragged infrastructure have left much of the nation barren."

Associated Press 06/09

Early signs along the road of economically incorrect practices

Tolerable, perhaps, when taken in isolation

But soon you get a sense of what statisticians and investors are up against

These dismal shops will not get any better if people carry on their habits of growing their own food, fishing their own fish and milking their own goats.

Two characters caught in flagrante lowering the gdp

Goats like this one have been providing their owners with free milk and contributing nothing to the economy

This hand-made cradle may be used again unless tough health and safety regulations are introduced

This old domovoy (house spirit) can prevent people from investing in up to date intruder detection technology

People use this banya, then sit on a bench and stare at the view with a beer, instead of working to gain the freedom to choose to buy more comprehensive entertainment equipment.

A field that could be developed or at least fenced off

The question of whether they love their children too lies unanswered as his elders unswervingly make the wrong economic decisions

The process you are about to witness costs the economy an incalculable amount as it seems to be repeated endlessly everywhere. Not one of these fish was paid for - but just freeloaded by some opportunists on a lake.

A close look at the bootleg production of woodchips that may be putting woodchip manufacturers all over the country out of business.

One vertical slice and you also get ready-made wooden planks for firewood totally "Na halyava" (for free)

Soon this will be converted into hundreds of roubles worth of smoked fish that will not have been purchased, nor most likely be sold... How do you build growth curves off the back of that?

This individual, not ashamed to show his true colours and who's name, revealingly, is Vladimir Illych, takes us further into his world of economic subterfuge.

These are the poles used to fasten the nets in the lake.

Scene of many economic crimes preventing market growth

undeveloped marina

Vladimir Illych invented this. A converted tractor with wheels made of rubber buoys to go fishing on the lake in the winter. If the ice cracks, it floats!

At first glance a simple device for firing dwarves but actually used for boiling water and bending poles of wood that hold the fish nets.

the persistent, shared desire to do exactly what this man is doing lies at the heart of Russia's economic woes

objects like this splendid long-backed seat make mincemeat of any correlation between cost and value

this bathroom / gym combo is not market friendly

bare walls with meagre decoration speak volumes of the woe and destitution that persists in this part of the planet

An adjustable dressing table that undermines the very laws of supply and demand

a clever way of saving the only resource they have in abundance: water

A stab in the eye of bus shelter manufacturers worldwide

this way to perdition please

will they never learn?

Izhevsk - Udmurtia