Russia's Economic Blackout Will Change the World

[Uncle Joe]

In a matter of days, the United States, Europe, and others have excommunicated Russia from the world stage, isolating the 11th-largest economy financially, commercially, and culturally. The U.S. and Europe have frozen foreign assets held by Russia’s central bank, hurting its ability to stabilize its currency. Private companies, including Apple, Netflix, Adidas, and BP, have cut off the Russian market, and the U.S. has moved to ban Russian oil imports. Sports leagues, film festivals, and other cultural institutions have banished Russian competitors. McDonald’s is closing its Russian franchises. Many of these measures are unprecedented for a country of Russia’s stature. Collectively, they amount to a radical worldwide experiment in moral retribution. If Vladimir Putin sought to expand the Russian empire by hard power, he has achieved the very opposite: the diminishment of Russia through an unprecedented display of global soft power.

The immediate consequences are already breathtaking. On both sides of this new iron curtain, commodity prices are skyrocketing and economic indicators are falling. Oil is at all-time highs, and the Nasdaq is in bear territory. Nickel prices went vertical, and the ruble crashed by 50 percent. Wholesale energy prices in Europe have blown past historic records, and a European recession looks almost certain. Yesterday, the economist Mark Zandi put the odds of a U.S. recession this year at “one-in-three.”

This is just the beginning. Like all novel experiments, the group punishment of Russia is a leap into the unknown. We shouldn’t be confident about how long these measures will last, or what kind of unintended consequences they could create. But after I did some reading and spoke with experts, some significant, long-term effects have clicked into focus for me. Here are three ways that Russia’s economic blackout could change the world.

1) The Green-Energy Revolution Goes Into Warp Speed

Tech revolutions in the 21st century tend to be very fast. It took about a decade for the share of Americans with a smartphone to go from zero to 80 percent. But energy revolutions are lazier affairs, and the green-energy transition in particular has been turgid in the U.S. and Europe, which is perhaps surprising given the declining price of solar energy. The West has simply refused to build green-energy projects fast enough to decarbonize the grid.

(snip)


https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/03/russia-economic-sanctions-wheat-oil/627004/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Wow, Russia becomes China's new North Korea.

Basically Putin becomes a colony of China.

China becomes the new superpower.

Putin will never go for this, but he may have no choice if he wishes to survive.

Putin tried to take over the world which wasn't having it.
The world will take away all his power.

Yikes, Putin thought he had his plan for world domination nailed down.

He had taken down US and UK democracies and the rest of the world was his for the asking.

[Crazyleftie]

2. fear mongering

Russian impact on the world economy was/is/will be minimal. Russia is not an economic power other than their oil.

[PortTack]

3. Exactly! the Russian GDP is equivalent to Texas

[roscoeroscoe]

4. Unintended consequences

The ripples from Putin's madness will spread far and wide. Reaping the whirlwind indeed.

[yankee87]

5. Economic Impact

Of course, I'm worried about the impact of the economy with what is going on. Are we in the same as 1939? I don't know. Thankfully I'm near retirement and Social Security. My kids are set and could move back if need be.

[dalton99a]

6. Sounds like another "Do Not Punish Russia" article

[Uncle Joe]

7. I didn't interpret it that way dalton,

so much as a projection of likely new cultural/social dynamics as a result from the sanctions.