[cranked]

Russia most sanctioned country in the world and the West and US getting hit harder and far worse than Russia. Sanctions failed, utterly.

[Luke21]

Good post.

[DesertRhino]

So Obama, the guy in the professors lounge making snarky smart assed comments, was wrong when he said it’s just a “gas station with a nation”?

[BobL]

Russian propaganda, yet again. We all know that Russia is in Deep Shiite, since the Daily Mail told us so.

[dennisw]

I agree here that much of what Americans and Europeans call their GDP is fluff. Our service sector is very fluff ridden. In the US, we have a 100 million dollar lawsuit that one side wins. This 100 million is counted in our GDP? I know that the labor and billing by the two opposing sides of lawyers teams will be.

[PGR88]

The PPP argument is an interesting one.

How much of the USA’s GDP is based on financialization and financial products trading? Bloated Government at all levels? Services that are not critical to any basic part of the economy?

[mo]

“wishful thinking” is the foundation of this administration’s policies...

[crz]

Trying the sanction a country-no matter which, with the natural resources that country has is like trying to piss against a hurricane force wind to put out a fire.

Nobody knows what is underneath the ground in that country. Its what? 11 time zones wide? All that territory and I would bet a whole lot of it unexplored.

Politicians are proof at how ignorant and worthless dumb they are.

[Poison Pill]

You lost me at “French economist”

[marron]

Russia is a country the size of a continent, with enormous oil resources, enormous resources in general, backed up to a continent also packed with enormous resources.

And they had years of sanctions to prepare them. I’m actually surprised at what damage sanctions have done, at how much they continued to be dependent on outside technology. But in the end sanctions only forced them to build an economy that is fairly independent of the outside world. McDonalds closes, food prices go up 20%, but people still eat. They can’t get parts for some of the fancy electronic googaws, but they can still do it old-school and it gets done.

Thats why, prior to the war, when Biden threated more sanctions if Russia invaded, I said that was the equivalent to a green light.

Piling more sanctions onto Russia does very little. They are necessary, but no one should imagine that sanctions alone will do anything much more than force Russia to redirect its supply chains away from Europe and America. An annoyance but not unsolvable. It forces Russia to sell some of its oil at a discount, but at a hundred dollars a barrel, they can sell at a discount and the discount is more than the pre-war prices. So not much of a problem.

[dila813]

They were already beat down so much, they are really only losing the butter on their bread

[Grampa Dave]

EU = More Really Good timing with their idiots in charge!

Travis McGee, Thanks for posting the great economic reality for the ETU, Euro Trashy Union versus Russia. Also, a reality lesson versus Harvard/Yale B$ and our MMS B$ers.

Oktoberfest may be AXED due to Putin gas crisis, and Bavarian breweries told to stop making BEER as it's revealed Germans must pay £1,000-a-year 'gas surcharge' ON TOP of bills and Hanover turns off hot water!

UK Daily Mail ^ | July 29, 2022 | Chris Pleasance

Posted on 7/29/2022, 9:01:31 AM by C19fan

Germany could be forced to scrap Oktoberfest celebrations and its famous Christmas markets as officials desperately search for ways to save energy after Russia began throttling gas supplies to Europe.

Hanover, yesterday became the first major city on the continent to announce it will turn off all hot water in public buildings to conserve energy, while Berlin has begun dimming streetlights and Augsburg has turned off public water fountains.

Although Europe is scrambling to get energy from elsewhere, any difficulties this winter could be a harbinger of worse to come if Russian gas supplies are completely severed and stay off through 2023, said France’s minister overseeing energy, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

“If gas deliveries are cut by the end of the year, that will mean we’ll have a full year without Russian gas, so the following winter could be even harder,” Pannier-Runacher told French senators.

[Navy Patriot]

Very interesting, informative and valuable.

[DannyTN]

Why it matters: The big question about Russia sanctions is whether they have teeth, if they exclude Russian oil and gas. While official Russian statistics suggest the economy is using its oil and gas revenues to withstand the effects of sanctions, Sonnenfeld's paper says that the official Russian statistics are lies.

What they found: The paper's results include sobering facts about the Russian economy. Z

• "Russian imports have largely collapsed," the paper says — creating massive supply shortages and denying the country crucial parts and technologies.
• "Russian domestic production has come to a complete standstill."
• Foreign companies that have left Russia account for 40% of Russian GDP, the author wrote, almost none of which is going to come back any time soon.
• The conclusion: "Looking ahead, there is no path out of economic oblivion for Russia as long as the allied countries remain unified in maintaining and increasing sanctions pressure."

  https://www.axios.com/2022/07/26/russia-sanctions-economic-impact

[DannyTN]

https://thedeepdive.ca/sanctions-on-russia-are-working-yale-paper/

[frithguild]

Russia had a flat tax rate of 13% until recently - now the top rate is 15%. Russia now has a very powerful industrial and commodities based economy. Which, of course, is a coincidence.

[agere_contra]

Kudos for posting an informative article.

[sauropod]

monitor

[Nifster]

Because others are still doing business with Russia

He’ll America buys oil daily from Russia

Such insanity

[Always A Marine]

Concerning Russia, Sapir also asks: “What is the share of the services sector compared to the share of the products and industry sector?”

Bingo! The short answer is that Russia grows, mines and manufactures vast amounts of things for itself and for export. By contrast, America and the West outsourced far too much of our manufacturing and fooled ourselves into believing that services are the truest measure of real wealth. Well, that may be true -- until things go wrong and reality disagrees.

In hard times, agricultural, mining and manufacturing economies still have the capacity to grow, mine and make things that people need. Real wealth remains. But when a service economy hits the skids, there's less money to manage and people find ways to amuse themselves, mow their own lawns, and do without what they can no longer afford -- and all that's left to sell off are unneeded computers, phones and lawnmowers. And paper promises.

All over the world, countries that were once "poor" now realize that they are actually rich in minerals, agriculture, and modern manufacturing capacities -- as long as they can prevent its theft by bankers and traders who don't mine, grow or make their own stuff. In particular, Russia ranks among the top producers of oil, natural gas, wheat and strategic minerals, maintains a huge manufacturing base, and has the military might to protect it.

This is why Russia is so feared by the West, and so hated by the bankers who dominate Western economies. This is why our government supports efforts to break up Russia into many smaller countries that would be easier to control. And it's why the ongoing rapprochement between Russia, China and India as a friendly trading block is absolutely terrifying to us.

America still possesses vast, excess mineral and agricultural wealth, much like Russia does. But we screwed up badly by off-shoring the bulk our manufacturing base. Now our pants are down, and we'd better fix ourselves quickly.