The chart below shows business confidence and S&P Global's manufacturing PMI. Both are falling fast, with the PMI lower than it's been since the Covid Crash.
It isn't just these indicators. The growth rate in industrial production has slumped from a peak of 6.6% in late 2023 to around 1.5% now. Growth in the volume of retail sales has fallen from 14% in late 2023 to 1.3% now. GDP growth over the same period has fallen from 6.2% to 1.1%. And this is after the data have been massaged by the government.
Now is exactly the wrong time to give in to Putin. It's time to tighten the pressure, to push harder, to force him to withdraw from Ukraine.
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