France losing uranium from Niger can lead to some funny consequences for the EU Garden as well.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 1 2023 7:08 utc | 4

englander imperialist sites such as the spectator are always going to spread whatever propaganda they are told to. Hence the April 2022 “yale study” on Russian sanctions, that’s barely 2 months after the big sanctions (which just happened to be “look over here we prepared some earlier”‘ then before the sanctions have even properly come into effect much less long enough to draw even interim conclusions from this yale study just pop up, types who live in the global north: You should be offended, these arseholes treat you like total idjits and barely anyone said a word about that yale study or the spectator article. How do you handle living where the ruling class consider you so stupid that this nonsense will be swallowed dry – without water much less a bracing brew?
Especially since the editors of this imperialist rag are now walking it back albeit with the same cartoon to signal to the aware but without any damn reference to their previous load of old tosh because they do not believe that many of their readers will link the two even with the cartoon.
It really is time for people in the global north to put their foot down on this nonsense. Sanction the spectator.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Aug 1 2023 7:26 utc | 6

The catastrophic consequences of sanctioning Russia without any realistic assessment of its, and one’s own economies should have led to a serious clean up of all state and international bureaucracies involved in it.

It was an experiment: cancelling one of the major economies of the world to bring about a military defeat. They were reasonably sure it was going to work but they knew it has never been tried before. Now they know. It doesn’t work. I remember all the talk about being expelled from SWIFT was nuclear. Lol! So much exaggeration about the West and its institutions.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Aug 1 2023 7:37 utc | 8

@Sam (in Tiraspol)
It’s like you can almost see the light bulb popping on in b’s mind as he FINALLY figures out why AfD is now the second-most popular political party in Germany.
That light has been blinking red since Feb 2022 when the economic war started.
The archives can easily prove this:
Disarming Ukraine – Day 5 | Money War On Russia – Day 1 – Feb 28, 2022

The U.S. and its proxies in the EU and elsewhere have put up very harsh sanctions on Russia to damage its economy.
The final intent of this economic war is regime change in Russia.
The likely consequence will be regime change in many other countries.
This war is waged at a financial size that is unprecedented. The consequences in all markets will be very significant to extreme. But experience from Iran shows that such financial wars have their limits as the targeted country learns to survive. Moreover Russia is in a much stronger position than Iran ever was and is better prepared for the consequences.

Posted by: b | Aug 1 2023 7:53 utc | 10

German manufacturers signal an even sharper decline in operating conditions in July, as the
@HCOB_Economics
#Germany Manufacturing #PMI drops to 38.8 (June: 40.6), its weakest in over 3 years
“>https://twitter.com/SPGlobalPMI/status/1686284935802363904

Sanctions hard at work.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 1 2023 8:03 utc | 12

Re: Posted by: Sam (in Tiraspol) | Aug 1 2023 6:59 utc | 2

It’s like you can almost see the light bulb popping on in b’s mind as he FINALLY figures out why AfD is now the second-most popular political party in Germany.

I would have thought Bernhard would be a natural supporter of AfD, but I guess Der Linke is probably more his style.
The difference is, I would say “Der Linke” are the “Useful Idiots” of German politics whereas Afd are the “Real Deal”.

Posted by: Julian | Aug 1 2023 8:07 utc | 14

Posted by: The Accountant | Aug 1 2023 7:00 utc | 3
Excellent analysis and been saying the same thing for months now.
“Russian exports fund Putin’s war” lol.
Their neoliberal thinking forces them to NOT understand money or trade. See it as a profit and loss sheet instead of an asset and liability balance sheet that allocates skills and real resources around the economy. Totally ignore what real terms of trade actually means. Wrapped up in the tax payer money myth and government is like a household myth.
They actually believe Putin has to “find” the funds as they imposed the Euro countries monetary system onto fully sovereign Russia.
Most voters are brought up on a diet of this BS.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Aug 1 2023 8:11 utc | 16

Re: Posted by: unimperator | Aug 1 2023 8:10 utc | 16
Keep an eye on the upcoming elections in Slovakia & Austria – both neighboring countries to Hungary.
These results could possibly (just possibly) bring to power leaders more sympathetic to the views of Viktor Orban.
As a block (with Serbia) you would then have (potentially) 4 mid-size countries objecting to the War in Ukraine.
These elections are worth watching – Slovakia is up next in September.
Also – if these four countries can rise in opposition to the War, watch for the possibility Bulgaria could join them.

Posted by: Julian | Aug 1 2023 8:18 utc | 18

Posted by: The Accountant | Aug 1 2023 7:00 utc | 3
” Russia could pour its surplus oil into the Black Sea and it would make no difference to its internal economy. ”
Ha! Love that. So true, but the profit and loss sheet guys and those that think Russia has to ” find ” the funds heads will explode.
“Russia is still addicted to neoliberal economic theory (and will be until it nationalises the central bank and abandons the ineffective Western interest rate beliefs). That’s its weak spot.”
Yup, interest rate targeting is the devil and Putin is a “sound money” guy and believes bank lending and the unelected banks is a far superior way to allocate both skills and real resources than the elected government.
That is his weakness – as he tries, along with the leader of the Russian central bank to keep the Russian upper class and bond holders on side. Somebody needs to take him aside and explain the Isle Of Skye , Skye bridge saga to him. He would soon learn the error of his thinking.
Alexander Mercouris, Scott Ritter, Douglas Macregor, Mark Sleboda etc, etc might then finally understand economics, money and trade.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Aug 1 2023 8:27 utc | 20

I’ll just add to my above @22
So for the elite the sanctions have worked just fine.

Posted by: Mark2 | Aug 1 2023 8:49 utc | 22

The Isle Of Skye , Skye bridge saga was one of the very first neoliberal, neo conservative projects in the UK. Scotland once again was chosen first just like with the poll tax to try this fucked up way of economic thinking. Along with PFI’s private finance initiatives.
The ” sound money ” way of thinking …..
” Government has to ” find ” the funds and taxes will have to rise, so it is much better to get investors on board and unelected banks to make loans, as they are so much better at allocating skills and real resources where they are needed. ”
All a myth of course, but voters have been brought up on a diet of these myths. That doesn’t reflect the government accounts or money creation in any way, shape or form. Or how
sovereign government with their own currencies spends.
So an American consortium won the contract and hired 3 companies to build the Skye bridge between the Isle Of Skye and mainland Scotland on the back of these myths. Because they DO work from a profit and loss sheet and are currency ” users” and not ” issuers” of the currency and they put a toll on the bridge when they were finished. To cover their costs and to rent seek for the next 50 years.
So the people of Skye started a revolution and deliberately got themselves arrested to clog up the courts and jails on the Scottish mainland until the tolls for crossing the bridge both ways were removed.
The UK government could have hired the same 3 companies to build the bridge and used an index finger and computer keyboard to pay for it.
There was no ” finding ” the funds as the UK government issue the £ and can buy anything that is for sale in £’s including labour.
Taxes wouldn’t have risen as there was plenty of fiscal space in the economy. So taxes were not needed to release both skills and real resources from elsewhere in the economy for the project. After all the American consortium found both the skills and real resources without any issues either.
The government could have negotiated the price by saying to the 3 companies that if they over charge for the project then they wouldn’t get any government contracts in the future and open it up to tender.
The bridge would have been built without a toll. That would have kept business costs down for local businesses that done business with the Isle of Skye. The local economy as a whole.
” sound money ” – much better to get investors on board and unelected banks to make loans, as they are so much better at allocating skills and real resources where they are needed was shown to be an ideological driven myth.
However, the facts were ignored and now the whole of the UK are run like this. Called trickle down but is really trickle up. Run by hedge funds, venture capitalists and rent seekers. Privatisation is the con that just keeps on giving upwards.
That just makes a nation a more expensive place to do business and to live and why they’ll never be able to compete with China and the rent seekers and bond holders choose war instead.
Interest rate targeting is the devil.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Aug 1 2023 9:15 utc | 24

News from Gonzalo Lira

why would he make a viral video and twitter post – which has been viewed several million times so far – before crossing the border? so that the border guards are warned and he can be arrested there again?
i crossed the same border into hungary last march and the wait was 5 hours – that’s how carefully they checked everyone’s papers. in 5 hours his videos and tweets are seen by everyone… this guy makes no sense to me unless he wants to be recaptured for a bit of fame.

Posted by: hans23 | Aug 1 2023 10:07 utc | 26

What was your business in Ukraine? Posted by: Norwegian

My wife is from Krivoi Rog, we picked up her children and some stuff with the car.
Nowadays it is easier to travel with Infobus or Flixbus, as they check you only once and not at each roadblock.

Posted by: hans23 | Aug 1 2023 10:57 utc | 28

The way to destroy the internal Russian production economy, perversely, would be to flood the Russian market with cheap imports. Much as the Chinese have done worldwide. Russia is still addicted to neoliberal economic theory (and will be until it nationalises the central bank and abandons the ineffective Western interest rate beliefs). That’s its weak spot.
Posted by: The Accountant | Aug 1 2023 7:00 utc | 3
I’m intrigued by your posts. Kinda convinced you know what you’re talking about in a sea of people who don’t. By which I mean the whole world of economic theory really which seems to me to be full of conflicting theories and no certainty. The ‘dismal science’ I think they call it?
So could you give us some links to where we can learn of your point of view or perhaps you have written or could/would write some kind of exposition comprehensible by us untutored in that field?
I think many of us would love to comprehend with some feeling of certainly just how it is all to be understood. 🙂

Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 1 2023 11:01 utc | 30

Russia is 1 step behind as usual
Posted by: Mom of Arch Bungle | Aug 1 2023 9:44 utc | 26
I don’t know, there’s still dumb people in Russia who need to see things like a drone strike on Moscow before they wake up from their stupor.
Mostly younger people who’ve travelled or studied in the West and can listen to English language propaganda.
“A-all war is bad! There’s never justification for war! Stop Putin and his horrible war!”
In other words, low intelligence losers (they’re usually unattractive too, in correlation with their limited brain power) who are masters at distorting words and meanings:
– the bombing and poisoning of Vietnam, Laos, Somalia, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Afghanistan, etc, and now Donbass: not war
– the Donbass people putting an end to their own genocide, and Russia eventually joining them after getting backstabbed with fake peace treaties three or four times: oh, so horrible, war, can’t we all just live in peace?
If at this point someone hasn’t realised that Russia will be taken right back to the Yeltsin years and then poisoned, bombed and genocided, unless it fights back hard, then please, leave Russia, go to your beloved west and get enslaved there. No need to come back.
It’s only a minority though. I have one friend who studied in the US and is as brainwashed as you can be. She still had rage attacks last year when I mentioned things like Blackrock, but recently she brought up Blackrock herself, and she seems to finally get what’s going on in Ukraine and the West. It helped that she found some videos by a Russian woman who lived in Norway and recounted the staggering extent of government child trafficking there. That shattered the last of my friend’s illusions of the West. And her home city repeatedly getting drone attacked helped too.

Posted by: Mike | Aug 1 2023 11:04 utc | 32

US sanctioned Germany in late 1941 yet Brown Bothers Harriman and Co., a New York bank, was still doing business with the Nazi’s till the summer of 1943.
Guess who ran Brown Brothers at the time? Prescott Bush, George Bush’s father. who became a US Senator in 1952.
Posted by: canuck | Aug 1 2023 11:12 utc | 33
Now that’s a good one. Goes into my file. Thanks. 🙂

Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 1 2023 11:19 utc | 34

“It is no wonder then that people will vote for anyone other than those in charge.”
If only. People will vote for their brand until 15 or 20% decide that “the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government” becomes imperative and undertake to “throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security”
But “people” in aggregate have very little agency or incentive to do anything other than wait it out and hope for the best.
It’s just the way it is and until the pathological narcissists go too far (wherever that may be), people are just going to suck it up, dig in to their brand loyalties and continue to abdicate their responsibility to a common weal.
I’d have thought that attempted mass murder by governments acting on behalf of pharma via mRNA would have crossed that Rubicon, but then again, normal people really, really can’t change their inculcated, indoctrinated world view, even when confronted with large scale, direct painful experience.

Posted by: whocanibenow | Aug 1 2023 11:25 utc | 36