Russia compared to Soviet and World Standards

For assessing the prospects of post-Yeltsin Russia, there is some point in examining Russia as Putin inherited it, and comparing it both to what Yeltsin inherited from the Soviet Union, and to high-income countries the Soviet Union aspired to compete with and Russia aspires to join. There are, of course, problems with any such comparisons. Countries do not always use identical definitions, data may be unreliable because of faulty collection methods, falsification, or the existence of a large 'black' economy, or may refer to different years.