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Harvard economist and former Obama advisor says Russia is 'basically a big gas station' and is otherwise 'incredibly unimportant' in the global economy
On the brink of imposing sanctions on Russia, the US and Europe have sought to reduce a ripple effect that could destabilize their own economies.
www.yahoo.com
What sounds like a brutal takedown in the title is actually the truth.
When is the last time that you bought a Russian car? Russian cheese? How about a hot new clothing design by Russians?
Or how about that hot new Russian restaurant in town? Were there long lines for mashed potatoes and holodetz--cold meat jelly?
No, Russia is a gas station, and the oligarchs are hogging those profits for themselves. Russia's industrial capacity for producing things that people want is, in purely scientific terms, "for shit."
So, their economy relies on a non-renewable resource, which is always a great long-term strategy. And you'd think that a gas country would be rich, like Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates or Qatar.
Russia's per capita GDP last year plummeted almost 12 percent to $10,127 per person.
But due to incredibly low labor costs, they have a huge army. And they have nukes, created back in the day when they thought they were baller.
This is not the portrait of a world power. This is not even the portrait of a country that should be considered in virtually any international decisionmaking.
Russia can't handle this reality. And so it is invading Ukraine.
In the coming months, notice how often Putin wants to appear in the news with other world leaders to validate himself.