As we know, television is winning. Even the young woman giving the weather forecast on Russian television talks about Syria. The Russian consumer forgets that he hasn't eaten yet; his stomach fills with pride at Russia's bombing campaign, which is a substitute for missing food imports.
Angus Deaton, the British economist who was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Economics advanced the idea that happiness is an important factor in economics. That fits with the current state of Russia: As long as one can find happiness on the television screen, one can get by with decreasing amounts of food.
