Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan official, leads a group of Harvard economists proposing ways to further degrade Russia’s economy. Photo: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg NewsIn response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western nations have targeted Moscow with the biggest coordinated package of economic restrictions ever levied against a major economy, including sanctions, export controls, asset freezes and energy price caps. Many of those measures, though, have proven less costly so far to Russia than some economists had expected and many officials in Washington and Brussels had hoped. Some Russian officials, meanwhile, had braced for more economic damage from the sanctions barrage by now.

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