[gdy]

Yes, my fear is that we are moving into 1990s economically, and politically into the times of the USSR.

For now they are promising tax benefits for programmers and IT-companies, cheap mortgage and safety from being conscripted. The last one is scary.

[jacquesm]

The exact same happened just before the wall fell in other former USSR countries. Anything to keep the smart people from joining the protests because they needed them badly to keep the country running. In most places that did not work, the writing was on the wall. But it took a long time for it to go from protests to the final effect. Longer than I fear we have today.