A ‘Severe Meltdown’
The headlines for Vladimir Putin's Russia were ominous on Thursday.
"The West is trying to destroy Russia’s economy. And analysts think it could succeed," read one. "The end of the oligarch era nears with Putin’s miscalculation in Ukraine," said another. Still others touted the success of finance as a "weapon of war."
Fitch and Moody's followed S&P in cutting Russia to junk. The multi-notch downgrades were accompanied by what it was fair to call dour color on the outlook. "The scope an
Where the heck is Dalio even coming from? Ukraine is the one being invaded, not “the West”, and they have been adept at enduring suffering from the Russians for over 100 years. Most recently, and the biggest driver for their democratic ambitions, was how their people were systematically abused and killed during the Chernobyl crisis as detailed in the Atlantic this morning. I doubt any of us in “the West” have any earthly idea what that kind of suffering looks like.
Right on.
“Russia’s economy is smaller than Italy’s.”
Thanks for stating this again. I thought I read that somewhere but decided I was not remembering correctly.
I was remembering correctly.
It’s eye-opening
Another point of comparison: Texas in 2021 had a state GDP of approx 2 Trillion, Russia 1.7 T
Russian oil exports are down by a third due to self-sanctioning while Russian gas continues to flow. Oil and refined product is about 3/4 of petroleum exports, NG about 1/4. If Russian oil exports keep declining while NG flow is sustained, that might strike the balance of doing the most damage to the Russian economy while doing the least to the European economies.
India stands out as being too supportive of Putin, buying oil and offering to help with currency flows and the gears in that mechanism need to be clogged up, to help with the Putin meltdown.
India fears China but yet they’re both in bed with Russia and Iran and the whole reason for that relationship is oil and guns, probably drugs too …
India needs to be sanctioned and given pariah status and thus pushed into deciding if they support the West or Putin’s killing machine. India can’t turn a blind eye to the reality of today’s barbarism simple because of prior Russian interactions, there isn’t grey area in this catastrophic madness.
Furthermore, regarding the friendship between thug and bully nations, perhaps this is a useful time for the West to turn a blind eye to pirates that increase risks to oil cargo. If the cost of insurance skyrockets, cheap Russian oil would increasingly be meaningless. Freezing oil transport will also cause storage problems and wreck havoc… Screw India!
Good point about India. Sure, they have traded with Russia over the years. But what about innocent civilians being bombed and murdered? How can Modi and his Parliament allies in New Delhi just act like it means nothing?
Modi is the Trump of India. So don’t expect much integrity from him.
Mr. Modi rewrote the constitutions and told one third of his nation to fuck off.
Another India related market meltdown thought, is the timing of the Ukraine invasion.
A massive future problem is the possibility of mega millions of refugees flooding the EU in the midst of the COVID pandemic. I think it’s time to downgrade Putin to war criminal status because of his biological human stampede.
Millions of unvaccinated virus carrying humans, mixed together may end up causing a new mutation of COVID. Covid is all about convergent mutation and Putin is all about chaos.
With that in mind, India can turn a blind eye to war deaths and biological collaboration and pretend to be neutral as they await deliveries of military arms and bloody oil. How is India not complicit in funding war crimes and why are they not held more accountable?
It sounds like you need to send an email to the State department…
An email might be interesting. Not only is there a war crime component with Russia, but there’s the matter of India engaged in money laundering, especially if that laundering is sanctioned by modi. India is working in workarounds to support Russia oil trade and use the same special purpose vehicle stuff used with Iran, but, how is that not being complicit and aiding and abetting terrorists? The sanctions need to send a crystal clear message that trading with Russia has enormous costs!