Yes. They even have levers they can pull to make this look better. For example they can reduce the price of tanks and other military equipment, so that they will balance out consumer price increases. But even thatβs not working any more.
When you already have a declining demographic, you lose 2 million worker to emigration, another half million in a war and then take millions more and put them on front lines and in military factories, of course consumer goods will suffer. Then you lose imports which could cover these goods to sanctions, lose oil refineries to war, and blow up a good portion of your GDP on the front line, of course things will get worse.
You can paper over this in the numbers for some time, even make your GDP look reasonably good with military expenditure, but all that stuff is just getting blown up, not providing investment for future growth. The longer you do it, the worse your future situation will be.
