Furthermore, Wilson, the only president with a doctorate, tried to use the newly created Federal Reserve system and an elastic money supply to keep inflation in check, but the U.S. still saw double-digit inflation from 1917 to 1920.

WSJ: Checks & Balances | Museum of American Finance | Of Debt and Taxes | By Mark Yost

Even if Russia's elastic state budgeting practices do manage to conceal the bill, the money must still be found somewhere.

ECONOMIST: Russia??s economy