Social implosion in 3 .. 2 .. 1 ..

The most disturbing news I've read this week is this story about the Ukrainian economy, which has apparently contracted by 23% ... in three months time. At best:

Anastasia Golovach, an economist with investment bank Renaissance Capital Ukraine, dismissed Yushchenko's forecast as overly optimistic. She said the economy is likely to have contracted by up to 30 percent, given that industrial output fell by 32 percent, output in the construction industry fell by nearly 50 percent, the transport industry shrank by about 25 percent and trade fell by 17 percent.

Those are not bad numbers - they are cataclysmic. A country as large as Ukraine heading for failed state status should be a global concern. Putin must be smiling quietly.