Not sure how this will play out. Putin is unpredictable and Obama is basically a pink poodle in comparison.
Paul Craig Roberts? Were David Icke, Alex Jones and Ron Paul tied up with other issues?
It also seems to me that Putin is the type to back down in any way. This attack on the ruble has a real bad feeling to it.
It couldn’t simply be that all their currency was backed by their oil,
which is now worth a lot less than it was...
could it?
Does it have to be “an attack”?
I don’t see the 0bambi Administration having any hand in banks’ refusal to do business in Rubles.
0bambi loves anything that undermines Western Civilization, just like Putin does. 0bambi hasn’t been effective in any other dealings with Putin, and has never put the screws to him in any meaningful way.
This indicates to me that the banks are doing what’s in their own best interests.
It makes sense to stop doing business with Russia when the price of oil is approaching Russia’s marginal cost of producing oil. That price problem makes Russia virtually bankrupt.
Banks are obligated to their shareholders to avoid doing business with bankrupt entities that will put shareholder capital at risk.
It’s just hard old economics squeezing Puti.
He’ll spin it, of course. But it is Puti’s fault for doing nothing for the Russian economy.
PCR alert. Bush bringing down the WTC on 9/11 was not enough. The globalists never stop!
Looks like Obama wants to destroy America even faster. Leave it to this[mis]administration to engage in an act of war against a nuclear power.
Stupidity in matters financial = war?
IMHO, Russia worked long and hard to achieve its present financial problems.
The real question is, do you want a country that’s an economic basket case as judged by the fact that no one wants to invest in it, or do you want a country that’s "an economic basket case" because people do choose to invest in it.Unlike the United States, which has a massive trade deficit, and if the currency markets were not rigged, the dollar would be collapsing, the Russian economy has a trade surplus.Question: What’s the difference between a trade defict and net foreign investment in a country?Answer: Bupkis. They are the same thing.
Not sure how this will play out. Putin is unpredictable and Obama is basically a pink poodle in comparison.
“Citigroup got put into the recent spending bill, the repeal of this, so they can gamble on derivatives, and taxpayers and depositors are on the hook for the losses.”
If this is true then we are in deeper than I thought. Somebody say it ain’t so.
Paul Craig Roberts, formerly of the editorial board of the WSJ and assistant secy of the treasury, has morphed into a full-on crank in his old age. He still has a few interesting insights, but largely comes across as a lip-smacking doddering old fool.
Going by the Title
Act of War...
Does this clown realize what type of fire he is messing with by breaching that idea publicly?
By the mere mention of it, he gives the idea credence on the public stage.
That is a massive mistake. All Putin needs to do is think he is justified by taking military action.
Good grief this is idiotic.
Folks, oil has taken a massive hit. Russia relies on oil exports. Roberts doesn’t seem to grasp the significance of this.
If you as a person or your nation as an entity loses over a third of your income for your leading commodity, you’re going to have problems.
This has caused the Ruble to experience downward pressure.
Further, sanctions of the West over Putin’s invasion of a neighbor nation may not be heaven sent, but they are rational. They are measures short of military action, and get the point across that treachery is not without it’s pitfalls.
Roberts raising the ‘Act of War’ specter here, is unforgivable. Moron...
The US produces more oil. The price of oil comes down. How is that an attack?
First RATIONAL assessment that I’ve seen of this insanity.
Roberts seems to think this is all planned. Obama wanted a reset. He wanted to be “flexible” with the Russians. Then came Libya, The Arab Spring, Syria, ISIS, Crimea, Ukraine, fracking and Saudi Arabia refusing to play sugar daddy for the rest of OPEC.
Obama’s naivete played a big role in this. The Arab Spring was nonsensical leftwing fantasizing about the 60’s combined with delusions about good Muslims under bad dictators. The bizarre responses to Syria and ISIS were just bizarre.
Then oil crashed and so did the Ruble. Noone needed hedge funds conspiring with the Fed. Crashes happen. They especially happen to nations who are dependent on oil and who are engaged in expensive military actions all over using oil to support their adventurism.
I have no idea how all this will play out. But chaos is a powerful force and there’s a lot of that going around today.