Russian Rubles - Economy Watch

## Russian Rubles

Russian Rubles is the seventh episode of Economy Watch, which aired on September 26, 2021 on YouTube. The episode focuses on David talking about Rubles, the official Russian currency, and it's history throughout the Russian Revolution.

## **Plot**

The episode begins with David becoming a Communist and changing his display set-up to be themed around Soviet Russia, replacing the REFORM Bottle with vodka, adding Soviet memorabilia, wearing a USSR shirt and adding a Soviet Russia flag in the background. The rest of the episode has David talk about Russian, Eastern-Europe and Soviet Rubles, until David realizes that Communism requires David to share his loot with the government. He then drops out of the ideology.

## **Transcript**

(David is shown setting up his desk, adding Soviet memorabilia.)

David: Oh hey, I didn’t see you there. I’ve decided to become a Communist now, and after reading up on Orwell’s *Animal Farm* and playing an unhealthy amount of *Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War*, I can officially say I know everything about the Russian Revolution, horrible skill-based matchmaking and Stalin pigs urinating. Wait, I’m missing one thing.

(David slaps the REFORM bottle off the desk, and replaces it with Vodka.)

David: In every other country, you have water. In Russia, you have Vodka. Now why am I converting my living space into something that would make Vladmir Putin blush? It’s because we're talking about Russian Rubles!

(Voice-over segment.)

David: The Ruble was the official currency of the Russian federation, and has an inflation rate of 5.8% as of 2021, the current year.

(Shot back to desk.)

David: Wait a minute. The Ruble sounds familiar. Wasn’t this the main currency of Eastern Europe in the 14th century?

(Voice-over segment.)

David: Indeed it was. But, starting in the 90s, when practically everyone wore denim clothing and listened to Nirvana, Russia began to adopt the modern Russian Ruble, which this episode is all about.

(Shot back to desk.)

David: Wait a minute, the 90s was also when the Soviet Empire fell. What currency did our Soviet overlords use during the era of the Soviet Empire?

(Voice-over segment.)

David: The Soviet Ruble, a version of the classic 14th century Ruble that was created during the Russian Revolution in 1917 and withdrawn when the Soviet Empire fell and the modern Ruble was… coined.

(Shot back to desk.)

David: That’s cool and all, but how much is the Ruble worth now?

(Voice-over segment.)

David: The Ruble is worth roughly a hundredth of an American dollar at the moment, but inflation can change that.

(Shot back to desk.)

David: Well that was a lot of fun. I learned about how much the modern Ruble costs, the older variants of Rubles, and more! And the best part is that all of the stuff on my desk belongs to me and me only! I don’t have to share anything with the government - huh? What’s this?

(David picks up a paper.)

David: I have to share everything with the Communists? Well so much for Communism.

## **Trivia**

* *Call Of Duty* (Specifically 2020's *Black Ops Cold War*) and George Orwell's *Animal Farm* are referenced in this episode, due to both medias either referencing Soviet Russia or parodying it.
* The USSR theme is faintly heard in the background. This is the first time music is featured in *Economy Watch*.