Harvard economist and former Obama advisor says Russia is 'basically a big gas station' and is otherwise 'incredibly unimportant' in the global economy

businessinsider ^ | Feb 21, 2022 | Matthew Loh

[dennisw]

ussia's economy is "incredibly unimportant in the global economy except for oil and gas," Jason Furman, a Harvard economist and former advisor to President Barack Obama, told The New York Times.

"It's basically a big gas station," he said.

His comments come as the West prepares heavy sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine. While they have the potential to throw the Russian economy into chaos, these measures could also reverberate to further damage the US, Europe, and the rest of the world as they battle inflation and rising energy prices — a ripple effect that the West hopes to mitigate.

On Monday, Moscow declared the independence of two breakaway regions of Ukraine and sent troops there — escalating the prospect of a major war. President Joe Biden has already ordered sanctions on the separatist regions — Donetsk and Luhansk — prohibiting US citizens from engaging in any exports, imports, or new investments in these areas.

Despite Russia's size and wealth in raw materials, its economy is more on par with Brazil than with nations like Germany, France, and the UK, according to the latest nominal GDP data from the World Bank. According to the World Bank, Russia's economy is smaller than Italy's and South Korea's, two nations with less than half of Russia's population.

[hinckley buzzard]

And about 20% of the worlds wheat exports. But this guy is from Harvard so he doesn’t know wheat is what people eat.

[yesthatjallen]

McCain said the same thing.

McCain: 'Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country'(2014)

https://news.yahoo.com/mccain-ukraine-crimea-160807712.html

[BlackVeil]

Ukraine accounts for 12% of the world’s grain exports and is estimated to provide 16% of global corn exports ...

Very important.