Archive - Jul 3, 2009
Vologda, Russia: Where the jobs are few and the lumber is cheap
One small Russian town is taking an untraditional approach to helping residents cope with the economic crisis: They're practically giving away lumber, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal.
In Vologda, the local government can't afford to keep up with the demand for unemployment benefits and have capped monthly unemployment checks at $160. To help keep a lid on social unrest among the unemployed and give infrastructure a boost, the governor announced a program that allows local residents to chop down trees from area forests at an absurdly discounted price. Under the program, the citizens of Vologda can purchase enough wood to build a house for under $7, but they're entitled to cut down and purchase up to 200 cubic meters of wood, which they can then sell — that's enough to load up multiple semi-trucks.
But there's a catch. First you have to trudge through the forest and chop down the trees, then you have to build a house with it. If your resume doesn't happen to include being a logger, architect, and carpenter this could be quite difficult and dangerous.
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