Wasn't Russia's economy supposed to be crushed?
Crushing Russia's economy was supposed to be one of the top goals of the western agenda.
It looks like they lost that bet.
These days Russians do not have much to boast about, so they take what they can get. Social-media trolls are posting videos, intended for European audiences, showing gas stoves left on full blast. What might cost hundreds of euros in Berlin comes to a few roubles in Moscow. The taunting is childish, but it hints at a deeper truth: the economic war between Russia and the West is at a delicate moment. While Europe teeters on the brink of recession, Russia is emerging from one.
That's not to say that the sanctions haven't hurt Russia. They most certainly have, but the pain hasn't been unbearable.
Or how about this headline from the NY Times.
But so far, the data shows how deeply Russia is intertwined with the global economy, allowing Moscow to generate substantial sums as it enters the ninth month of war. Efforts by Western nations to use sanctions and other measures to cripple the Russian economy have so far had limited effects.
“It is very difficult to live without Russian resources,” said Sergey Aleksashenko, former Deputy Minister of Finance and Vice President of the Central Bank of Russia. “There is no alternative.”
...
. High oil and gas prices last year boosted the value of the country’s exports, helping Moscow make up for lost revenue due to sanctions. Gazprom, Russia’s giant state energy corporation, announced record profits in the first half of this year, even as shipments to Europe began to decline.The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly revised its forecasts this year for the Russian economy, saying it will shrink less than the organization’s projections. IMF said in October that the Russian economy is expected to shrink 3.4% this year, a much smaller contraction than the 6% it forecast in July and the 8.5% it expected in April.
“Russia has withstood economic sanctions better than anticipated, supported by oil and gas prices,” said Gilberto Garcia-Vazquez, chief economist at Datawheel, which runs the Observatory of Economic Complexity. high gas and our dependence on fossil fuels.
The Russian ruble has done even better.
Meanwhile, the most anti-Russia nations of eastern Europe are not doing so well.
The Polish economy may grow at 1.6 percent next year when compared to 4.0 percent anticipated for 2022 and 3.6 percent forecasted in the previous edition of the report published in spring.Ukraine’s economy is now projected to contract by 35% this year although economic activity is scarred by the destruction of productive capacity, damage to agricultural land, and reduced labor supply as more than 14 million people are estimated to have been displaced. According to recent World Bank estimates, recovery and reconstruction needs across social, productive, and infrastructure sectors total at least $349 billion, which is more than 1.5 times the size of Ukraine’s pre-war economy in 2021.
We can't ignore the Baltic states.
The Baltic countries continue to be the hardest hit. These states in particular are experiencing the highest levels of inflation in the Eurozone. Thus, inflation in Latvia and Lithuania hit 22.4 per cent and 22.5 per cent respectively. Estonia also has seen inflation rise year on year from 6.4 per cent in September 2021 to 24.2 per cent in September 2022. The more so, the Baltic States continue to see soaring energy and food prices which lead to declining standard of living.The Bank of Lithuania has published its latest economic forecast and revised gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections for 2023 from 3.4% to 0.9%.
Do you think that maybe Peace Now is a better plan than Victory Somewhere Down The Road?
Comments
People who live in
glass economies probably shouldn't throw nukes, or something like that.
I'm slowly trying to get my arms around the idea that the Owners actually think that they actually *can* somehow win this economic/proxy war without "getting their hair mussed a little", to misquote General Buck Turgidson. Up until the last couple of weeks, I honestly did not think that it was actually possible for anyone with 46 chromosomes and also capable of fogging a mirror to be that utterly, abysmally stupid.
I was wrong, of course. The probably-apocyphal Einstein quote immediately comes to mind:
We'll see how that works out, now that we have US boots on the ground in Ukraine. Oh, they are supposed to be "inspecting the weapons caches" or some such thing, and not involved in combat, yadda yadda- but once the first official active-duty US soldier gets fragged and that coffin shows up at Andrews, or the first C-17 full of bangtoys gets splashed, we'll just see what the next step in the escalation ends up being.
Remember the Maine. And the Gulf of Tonkin. And all the other convenient excuses that we've cooked up/capitalized upon over the years, as cover to blow some shit up.... The past is prologue, and these damned jokes just write themselves. I just hope to wake up "not dead" again tomorrow.
On edit: my apologies to black mollies and privet hedges, among others. They also share having 46 chromosomes with these insane homo saps who are apparently determined to end all life on the planet...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Russia self sufficient economy
Before the invasion, energy (oil, gas, etc) was 15% of the Russian GDP. In contrast, for the USA it was 9%. While energy exports important, Russia had what some described as a self sufficient economy. It produced what it needed for internal consumption. Russia did not depend on Starbucks and McDonalds to fuel its economy. In high tech, I believe they could produce chips down to 24nm, which is good enough for most applications. Its car industry has taken a licking but so have Western makers with either Mercedes or BWM (forgot which) moving factory to China.
The West has been driven by cliches and stereotypes about both Russia and China to their detriment. Russia was not just a gas station.
Meanwhile in Western Europe, something AMAZING is happening...
...Can you see it?:
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Maybe it's time, again, to bring up that perpetual question:
"what's their endgame?"
"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama
depends on who 'they' are
if you mean the Rus, it would be about border security.
If you mean the west, it would be to eliminate competition.
Pretty simple, one would think.
Those aren't endgames.
An endgame would be like: there's a nuclear exchange and large numbers of people die, followed by the collapse of the global capitalist system and its replacement by various command economies.
That's not, however, the endgame they want. So what fairytale are they telling themselves about this war?
"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama
Again, depends on who "they" are
Morgoth: "We'll stay in as long as we possibly can to make as much money as we possibly can, just like always!"
Achenar-Team: "We just need this to last long enough to make it the next jack-o'-lantern's problem."
Sirrus-Team: "We just need this to last long enough to get Trump back; he'll do his 'Art of the Deal' thing and look like The Savior of Sanity and the other side won't be able to do shit, because they've already spent all their ammo convincing everyone they can he works for Putin anyway. We're already raking up the future of their base, who gives a shit what aging Baby-Boomers (that aren't us) think anymore?!"
Russia: "This feels like fairy-tale alright, but is not - we're winning!!! NA ZDOROVIE!!!"
Uko-Nazis: "GLORIOUS DEATH IN BATTLE IS ALL THAT MEANS ANYTHING TO US - oh, and someone call Hunter's dealer, we need more crack!!!"
Zelensky: "Out, out brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon th-wait. Who the hell is 'Keltic's Kid's Kandyman', and why does this invoice indicate that most of my hard-begged war-funding keeps going to him...?"
Joe: "Mmmm...tapioca...."
Hunter: "Mmmm...crack...wait, whuzzat loud noise outside?!?"
Jill: "I ain't sayin' I'm a gold-digger...."
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
The Great Reset
Only from profound global economic collapse will hordes of ‘useless eaters’ willingly embrace the totalitarian dystopia being offered by the chosen few of the WEF.
I wish it was only the “War is a Racket” of Smedley Butler at play, and not the eugenics and ‘culling of the (human) herd’ crowd. Only this perspective can satisfactorily account for the profound stupidity of the Russian sanctions package which clearly is harming the economies of the collective West in what appears to be an economic suicide pact.
‘They’ are not that stupid, because ‘They’ is not the collective West. ‘They’ is the anti-nationalist cabal of Globalists, waiting in the wings for for their chance of a lifetime to literally rule the world; your friends at the WEF. That is the endgame.
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes
I don’t get it
If the market crashes won’t that wipe out the Rich’s money just as much as it would we the little people like it did in '29? And while inflation isn’t hitting the rich as hard it’s still costing them money on gas and food because what they buy is more expensive in bigger bulk. Those yachts costs lots of money to travel on the seas and it’s gotta be hurting them. Unless they have so much that they don’t notice. But that goes back to question 1. What happens to their money?
Anyone? Bueller?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Think the bigger card sharks are not concerned about
crashing the economy. There are plenty of oligarchs in Russia that are grinning.
Wall Street is definitely going to take a hit, bu the bettors are anticipating that.
And the losers will be the little folks, like us. Which seems not to matter with the
high rollers. Ah, you lose a few billion, but if ya got trillions .. people are expendable.
Don't fall for Russian propaganda
link
Russia has made lots off the increased cost of petroleum
The downside is that they will never again be looked upon as someone whose supply can be depended on. You only get to play the energy card once. Russia has hastened Europe's switch to renewables.
I mentioned once here that Russia doesn't produce capital goods, someone remarked oil and wheat. Those are not capital goods. Capital goods are tractors and turbines, goods used to make other goods which are sold to end users. Capital goods suck for bribes and corruption, raw materials are great for kickbacks.
The meme of Russian troops stealing washing machines is true. They lack the machines to make washing machines and imports are severely restricted and will be for a long time. Russia is a quasi third world country with nukes, and they will remain so for a long time.
I saw polling showing up to 50% of Republicans no longer support giving aid to Ukraine, and it wasn't an anomaly, Republicans not supporting Ukraine has shown steady erosion. Hard to say how much a Republican congress will withdraw support.
Russia wants to save face, and at the least they want the productive eastern portion of Ukraine with all of its industrial base and access to the Black Sea. Eventually they want all of Ukraine if we take Putin at his word. Russia needs a few years to rebuild it's military before taking another bite.
Ukraine is in a tougher place. All of it's citizens behind Russian lines are subject to massive deportation to the far flung reaches of the Russian Federation. In those areas already liberated international observers found large scale murder of both POWs and civilians. Anyone is subject to arrest, torture, and execution. It's pretty hard to abandon one's fellow citizens to such a fate.
I think Europe will step up and provide more of the financial support for the war even if the actual weapons are American. The Baltic Republics and Poland are especially vulnerable as they are next if Russia overruns Ukraine in its entirety.
Moldova especially is vulnerable. Russian aggression over the past couple of decades follows a predictable play book. They support a Russian speaking minority population, assist in a phony uprising, and invade to protect Russian speakers complete with lots of propaganda. Ukraine, Georgia, etc. If I lived in Moldova, I'd keep the car full of gas and have a bug out bag. Russia has troops in the Transnistria region which the Moldovan govt calls illegal. If the war in Ukraine were over Moldova would be an easy place to pick up, and it's very close to Odessa which Russia would really like.
Russia is interested in securing its borders with France maybe.
Lol…
I guess you have missed Germany reneging on the nordstream pipeline deal and that after we blew it up and there was still a way to pipe gas to them Russia said that their offer was still open. Russia has honored every contract it made even after countries hit them with sanctions.
As for the rest of your comment I didn’t bother to read it cuz you have been proven wrong on everything you post so it’s probably just a bunch of words you heard from mainstream sources. Besides I don’t read propaganda. If I was interested in it I would use the sources that you use. I think you are going to be surprised when everything you are told is going to happen doesn’t.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
CNN on top of things
The mayor of Melitopol announced to CNN that the Russian headquarters there had been destroyed.
First off, the former mayor of Melitopol is not in Melitopol. In fact, from the article we don't know if he's even in Ukraine. He was captured on March 11, was given over to the Ukies less than a week later in a prisoner trade. Whatever happened, whatever was hit, whoever hit it, when the good mayor, Ivan Federov speaks he's merely repeating what someone told him. Melitopol was taken by the Russians in the first weeks of the war and there are tens of thousands of Russian soldiers and tanks and drones between Melitopol and whatever basement Federov is crouching in.
When a story like this emerges on the CNN website there apparently is no better news for CNN to report.