On the morning of Monday, December 15, the ruble began to plunge, ending the day down by 8 percent. That night, after a long evening of debate involving Putin himself, the central bank decided that it would hike interest rates from 6.5 percent to 17 percent. The announcement was made at one a.m. It was intended to reassure investors and punish speculators. It didn’t work. It was read not as reassurance but as a sign of panic. As markets opened on the morning of Russia’s “Black Tuesday,” December 16, the foreign exchange market went into free fall. By the end of the day the ruble had fallen to
...more
