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Russia Gloats: "Merkel's Misery Over Broken Europe Dreams"
Earlier today, as has become a symbolic custom, Tsipras spoke to Russia's Putin by phone. Aside for the referendum, the topic of their conversation was unknown, but both sides rushed to note that financial aid was not among the topics of discussion, which assures it was. However, with the Greek negotiations still ongoing even if, as Germany has claimed, all bridges have been burned, there is no point for the Kremlin to step in at this moment and disclose itself as a Lender of Last Resort. It still has a few days.
However, while Russia patiently awaits for the right moment to step up, either alone or together with China, its media has no intention to wait when it comes to gloating at Europe's misfortune.
And gloat it has this morning, mostly at the chancellor of a continent that over the past year has gone out of its way to portray Russia as the devil incarnate and launched countless sanctions (that backfired and would have led Germany to a triple-dip recession if not for the ECB's Q€), as shown best by the following headline image on Russia's Sputnik News, which pretty much sums up the new European reality in six words, and one half of Merkel's face
The gloating continues:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was adamant she would not be the German leader that presided over a Greek exit from the Euro that would plunge the European dream into crisis. She may not yet have failed, but she is damaged.
From there, the gloating only gets beter:
After the Greeks voted against accepting the latest demands from its creditors, Merkel is facing her worst nightmare: a possible Greek exit from the euro, a possible exit from the EU completely and loss of confidence in the currency itself.
For months, Merkel has been anguishing over how to tackle the Greek problem. After five years of bailouts, the problem is nowhere near fixed and – if anything – worse. Yet she may have herself to blame for vacillating over the issue.
When the Greek crisis hit in 2010, Merkel insisted on bringing in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the troika that included the Eurozone states and the European Central Bank (ECB). There was no clear lead authority. Merkel did this against the advice of her finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has long argued that the EU should solve its own problems. This was the first mistake.
As a result, the three institutions put together a scratch package of bailouts and demands that have created chaos. Traditionally, in previous country bailouts, the IMF would have been the lead agency. The troika have pursued a series of mini bailouts with conflicting demands, when – many argue – a managed exit from the euro would have been the better course of action.
Merkel’s next mistake was a cultural one. When she came to power, Germany was in the grip of economic crisis: high unemployment and a tax and welfare regime that was in need of reform. She set about doing this and her austerity package worked
When Greece began to collapse, due to its appallingly low rate of tax collection and its totally unsustainable welfare and pensions system, Merkel pronounced that her German reform methods be inflicted on the rather laid back Greeks, who had been enjoying the largesse of Euro membership during the good times. Culturally, to try and turn round the Greek tax and pensions system within five years was to hard a hill to climb.
One the one hand, she was demanding a stricter package of reforms, based on her own Germanic experience, which would inevitably cripple Greece. While on the other hand, she was determined not to let Greece leave the euro and damage the great European dream.
Half of her was Merkel — the pragmatic economist, the other was Merkel — the great European. She has now discovered, in her vacillation, she has not shown the leadership expected of the most powerful woman in the European Union.
Just who will have the final laugh?
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So, NOW the IMF is against the ECB and EU.
I would pay $10 to watch Lagarde mud-wrestling Draghi and Juncker.
I would throw in an extra buck to also see Dijsselbloem and Schauble cheerleading with pom-poms and wearing Girlscouts uniforms. ;-)
Looney
They have to pay me $100 to watch.
I am with you on that one SpanishGoop. On the other hand, put them in a cage, each armed only with a plastic spork, and lock the door until there is only one left alive (the "winner" receives an absolutely free execution chosen by the audience)...........that's a show I will pay any price to see.
Merkel is a shoddily reconstructed communist bureaucrat from the former East Germany. Can't think of a more qualified person to run another failed socialist state into the ground.
The article is factually wrong in an important point: merkel did NOT oversee a giant reform and austerity package. She is way too fearsome to do anything substantial. She basically harvested what the predecessor govt (greens and pseudo-social democrats) had implemented in terms of slashing the welfare state and improving 'competitiveness'. All that she does is empty , opportunistic talk and almost every speech of her contains the phrase: "There is no alternative to XYZ and ABCDE." Oh and yes, she is Obama's lapdog, damaging the once close and mutually beneficial relationship between europe and Russia and germany and Russia. With all the anti-Grreek hyperbole coming out of her mouth (and that of Schaeuble) over the past year or so, she will have a difficult time to get an agreement with Greece through german public opnion. Which is, sadly, as misinformed and blinded about Greece as it gets.
Ghordo, it looks like the Russians have bought into the cultural argument I've been flogging on here for years as well. I think they probably need some good Ghordo education telling them culture is a myth of the Euro-Skeptics and it means nothing to set them straight.
It's bad news for George Soros too ... lol!
and how about the half of Merkel who's an E. German Nazi and the other half who is a KGB Commie?
and how about half the Allianz für Deutschland that is liberal and the other half that is conservative?
Haus, that meme what coming from Russia since the beginning, believe it or not
and it's part and parcel of the US-Scandinavian-UK-Commonwealth cultural wars, by now
"Just who will have the final laugh?" Well, I guess Putin, the day he caps his EurAsian Currency Union and his EurAsian Trade Union with success
only because he is eating popcorn does not mean he shelved the plans or is not busy doing the ultimate compliment, i.e. copying
Please tell us again how you believe a unified Europe can win the cultural wars against US-Scandinavian-UK-Commonwealth all on its own, in other words without siding somewhat with Russia (and/or China.)
On copying:
Did you ever reflect why its being said "Love thy enemy, as you will become like him"?
... "Earlier today, as has become a symbolic custom, Tsipras spoke to Russia's Putin by phone. Aside for the referendum, the topic of their conversation was unknown, ..."
... until it was leaked ... this was the conversation ...
... Vlad the Impala: ..."hey 'Lexus, see what I mean? ... they'd blink first ... those krauts and frogs got no balls" ...
... 'Lexus Cheap-R-Us: ..."yeah, you're right ... I know Angie has none ... she had her beach picture to prove ... and the Junckyard dog ... well with a girl's name like Jean Cloud, he's a lying dog too ... ... and Mary-O? ... what a Draghi queen ... see how he reacted when that pretty girl in thongs leaped at his press con? ... and Christie? ... she could say I'MFucked ... 'cause she's a puppetmaster's puppy ... and thanks for your advise, Vlad."
... Vlad the Impala: ... "anytime 'Lexus ... you got my cell ... and remember, no matter where you go, there you are!"
What a clusterfuck.
The politicians will not decide anything. They will bloviate and pontificate, take tough positions and attempt to demean, screw Greece, attempt to Punish Her for Her Social Slight.
The EU, She Who Must Be Obeyed
The ECB will pontificate, certainly "Print Print Print", probably buying Gypsy women's armpit stubble as the final collateral.
The Next Step is but Debt Restructuring
That's whatchu do after the "we can't pay because you didn't pay us in time to pay you so we said fuck it"
Only question is what form it takes.
Honest to goodness restructuring (lower rate, extended maturity, forgiveness and write offs ex-declaration of tier 3 "Mark to Ouzo") ....... Or back to the same old stuffings of the Greeks?
In any case, unless it's back to the same old,
The Game Has Just Begun!
Wonder what Italy, Spain, et al are thinking.
Knuks, that is all very true. What really matters during all of this however is how magnificent the crepes are for lunch. I understand they are really something to remember.
Before we all get too pumped up, don't forget that the Greek Leadership is an anathema and dangerous now to the Very Edifice of the West's NWO.
Do Not expect TPTB to go Kindly into the Night
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Nuland%E2%80%99s_Nemesis%3A_Will_Greece_B...
To wit: Why did V resign? Just when the First Blows Against the Empire had routed the opposition?
Sompthinks wronk, Lichi!
The original article on John Helmer's site includes a good cartoon
http://johnhelmer.net/?p=13712
You can bet if Greece gets a sweetheart deal, there will be gnashing of the teeth.
Greece needs a realistic deal; by the IMF's own admission that has not been offered.
yes...it's unfortunate. and to really think, all Germany would have had to really do was back the Deutsche Mark with Gold and solidify their position as the most productive country in Europe. Europe would have gravitated to the Mark anyway as other countries (like Greece) imploded their own currencies. But they couldn't wait.
One slight potential flaw springs to mind: Germany getting its gold back from NY is proving problematic at the best of times...
Plus a pint of Jack for me.
That will not be fair. Draghi and Juncker need knives for a balanced fight
Juncker needs booze to do anything!
The whole dynamic should become more interesting, now that VAROUFAKIS IS GONE. RESIGNED. Allegedly.
(My wife flagged it on CNN International last night, at 11:30 pm PST.)
http://rt.com/news/271849-varoufakis-resign-minister-greece/
Hey, Kirk stalker. You're a fucking Asshole and Retard.
Does your IQ go above room temperature? Cause your EI* doesn't. Run along now and look up EI.
*Emotional Intelligence
Dude you wantch CNN and you are calling the other guy a retard? TV and Zollywood are for sheep who support the ZWO with their viewership.
=> Lagarde wins in a mud-wrestling match
=> Draghi and Juncker win in a mud-wrestling match
Yeah!
Move over, I am too.
Me too. Form an orderly queue!
How much popcorn is needed to make the message 'Fuck the EU'?
Is Putin's tub big enough?
something to go with the popcorn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2M5l__vCwo
Thanks - I hadn't seen that before. Merkel - Jerkel.
Are they poking fun at Merkel's sagging jowls?
Not sure, but I think the frown lines now extend down onto the shoulders.
Ironic from a British perspective, but she's a shoo-in for Churchill when he jacks in the insurance lark:
http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/File:Modern_Churchill_Dog.png
Keep it up Brussels and Washington...keep doing what u seem to be doing well....fucking up.
Merkel's realpolitik pandering to the worst impulses of the German character on behalf of the oligarchs will hopefully come back to bite her (and them) bad. I almost feel sorry for the Germans . . .
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/just-say-no_4_b_7732522.html
Merkel the morning after her NO vote celebration party
http://images0.tcdn.nl/buitenland/article24237561.ece/BINARY/q/merkel.jpg
O wait....
I thought for a moment that was a clip of Roddy Piper out of "Them"
There will be NO GREXIT ever.
Merkel has been spied upon since at least 2002 by the NSA and thus totally compromised. Her policies are dictated by Washington. So it would make sense that Russia gloats at the loss handed to the hegemon that is always threatening it and calling Putin a deranged "mass-murderer" in the free and fair press of the West.
Who is Putin? Some say that the original Putin is long dead. So, who is actually running Russia?
For that matter, who is Obama? Some say ....
All down votes at the moment ... look like I hit a nerve. All down votes on something like this is VERY odd, boyz. You need to fix that.
It's not as if the world is run by evil aliens and their brainwashed puppets ... oh, wait.
Maybe Merkel and the Germans envisioned themselves ruling over a united Europe, not with force of arms, but through debt slavery.
It is interesting how the system that was sold to the European countries as a union, has turned into a German Hegemony. No one should tell France ... oh, wait, they will roll over for Merkel and Schnaeubel, because that is what the French do.
Outlined several years ago by Mr. Panos, the Great Greek prognosticator.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvl9N9GdraQ
Merkel does what she's told by her bosses.
Look at how she reacts to being spied on by the NSA.
She's a glorified clerk.
The only countries that actually have money are China and Russia. I prefer Putin to take over Greece as he is not as crazy as Chinas leadership which is too busy building sandcastles that will be wiped out with the next tsunami.
I'm not saying China is a panacea, but,
Infrastructure galore.
Oodles of beautifully paved roads.
High speed trains comming out the wazoo.
Thousands of corrupt officials behind bars.
No sand castles there.
Hey! Everybody, the only claim to fame that Merkel has in her resume of golden bureauocracy was the excellent training she received as the head of PROPAGANDA for the communists in East Germany. Never trust what you hear and see when two communists get together for a show and tell. This is nothing more than a seminar for FSA socialist economics professors.
Now, compare her resume to Obama's, nah......futile, forget it, both are only qualified to be on a production line at a Nike factory, but only after intense training.
Communism failed, the only solution is moar fiat. It's coming.
So "Russia gloats" is the top of the pile story on ZH this morning. Give me a fucking break, Pootin fanboys.
tough day for the nazis, eh?
Putin and Merkel: 2 ex-commies. Neither is up to any good.
Europe needs to throw out the yid banksters and trash like these two.
As long as you can expand this belief to the US, i'm ok with your comment.
Whadda minute here! All Merkel has to do is do what Obama does; lie and go play golf and then lie some more.
Smoke some weed, have some back-door-action, jet around, practice singing like Rev. Al Green in front of the mirror, tell himself hw pretty he is....you know, Nero stuff.
But, Merkel is way too smart and is an actual leader compared to Obama, the world's sickest-sociopathic-lying-psychotic-vain-anti-American-anti-Christian-still-hiding-in-the-closet (Lord, wonder when HE is going to come out?)-poorest-excuse-for-a-POTUS-ever. Merkel is in an unenviable spot
In my book, the EU was put together WAY too fast by people with greed, greed, greed as their guiding light. Speed can be the death of social changes..... because as the pot is quickly being passed around, someone always adds some poisions and doo-doo. The EU needs to be cut down to 10 countries and they migth survive.
Instead, it was an attempted merger between McDonalds, Popeye's Chicken and Olive Garden....doomed from the start.
http://www.theliberist.com
Obola is doing exactly what his Z-puppetmasters want him to do. Destroy America, bankrupt it and allow illegal aliens to invade plus start a race war.
The funniest and stupidest thing is southern white males still cheer on the Trayvon thugs/rapists and fawn over them with college and pro ball like little slaves. Total retards. This is also true in Texas, Midwest and other college baller towns.
Fuck off whore! If it weren't for people like her, people might actually have a chance. No, we need to rule and be in power of EVERTHING and EVERYONE at all times.
Not the only mistake: Merkel now has to also continue to tow the rope for the USA, as she decided and nodded 'yes' to long ago. No money for it in the EU, but she's expected to ante up for their "fair share". Gotta pay for NATO, and the game the US wants to play, which is to harass Russia in her backyard. That game puts all of Europe in danger. The popcorn picture of Putin is appropriate, indeed.
We will look back at history and study the "Eurozone" as yet another socialist wet dream that became its own undoing.
From the intent of preventing war and conflict among European peoples, to being the cause and resurgence of it.
In some ways, it is really rather sad.
Merkel really believes in the United States of Europe,
but that belief is almost certainly the product of growing up in the
old East Germany where WW2 war guilt was magnified (even by the over-generous standards of West Germany)
to help divert attention from the obvious failure of Communism.
The problem is that the (various) peoples of Europe are far too dissimilar to be in a United States of Europe.
The EU is associated with a distinct lack of democracy.
The Europeans should stick with the more modest aims of free trade and friendly relations.
That at any rate would reduce the chance of (yet another) European war.
Putin seems to think the old USSR was a 'good thing'.
Personally, I recall the comment that the USSR was in a time-warp ('Upper Volta with missiles').
Watson
the eu was trying the usa model that started out as a federation of sovereign states eventually taken over by the feds without sovereign states. looks like the greeks used the greek technique on the idea. when spain, portugal and france follow, the eurozone can have its very own civil war, too.
There won't be a civil war, mostly because there is no unified political structure to fight against to start with.
No-ones going to be defending the EU's various expensive talking shops.
But true that Southern European folk will be very unhappy - lots of riots to come.
To me, Germany is on a path to re-introduce DEM.
Then, Spain, Portugal, France, etc., will get as many EUR as they want, at very low rates.
ECB will print EUR to buy gov/corp bonds/shares in small shops.
But EUR will be worthless currency, the only reason it has credibility today is because Germany uses it.
Actually, chance of new Hanseatic League - Germany centred but also Netherlands, Finland, Austria.
Southern Europe will go back to natural advantage as cheap holiday destination with good food/weather.
And if the riots get bad, maybe military governments...not as if they haven't been down that route before.
Watson
+100
Absolutely! I have tried to make the point that the constitution was the weapon of undoing for the sovereign states. The founders knew this as well. The move wasn't necessary and was made to create a strong central government. - their words, not mine- Washington signing the first central bank and sending federal troops to quell a tax revolt is proof in the pudding. All future presidents advocated central government supremacy. Lincoln destroyed half the nation to make the point. This usually doesn't fly well within the present definition of patriotism where allegiance is to government rather than ideals. It is also the reason why the national government has no qualms eviscerating said constitution as it has completed it's role and now is time to move on to the next step. Corporatism aka TPP and similar so called Treaties.
When the move was made from the Articles in which clearly the states were supreme,,, to the constitution in which the national government was made supreme, marked the beginning of the end of state sovereignty. The uncivil war with the WMD of the time (Slavery) allowed the national government to wrest complete sovereignty, not only from the South but the North as well. All they needed after that was a steady revenue stream which they got in 1913 and the elimination of the militias which were done away about the same time period which paved the way for WWI. FDR seeded the socialism and WWII completed the militarism.
This is nearly the same method the europeon elites are using. Bring them in as sovereign then slowly move that sovereignty to Brussels through a constitution and Treaties. The reason I don't think it can work in Europe is due to the incredible differences in the People's heritage and life styles. That wasn't a problem in the colonies.
Now the question is will the EU do a Lincoln.
sputink, RT, Rossija24, LifeNews (RUS version), RTR, Rossija1 - those are all putin regime financed propaganda channels. I wonder why ZH is so keen on spreading it's materials to the west... hmmm
try this on the huffnpuffers. it doesn't work here except for entertainment. naziboy or is that ashkenaziboy, same thing in either case.
Yes, it's clear , thinking is not your strong suit.
He lives in a hut, on the edge, watches TV and believes it.
and MSNBC, NBC, CNN, etc. are any better....hmmmm
Well, those are commercial TV channels who live from advertisement. But those who I mentioned (sputink, RT, Rossija24, LifeNews (RUS version), RTR, Rossija1) and ZH likes to spread - are putin regime sponsored - meaning they receive directly money from Russia state budget and works 24/7 to lie, manipulate and brainwash people heads.
Here are some examples:
Ridiculous lie on Russian TV: a child was crucified in Ukraine.
Ukrainian “punishers” are fighting to get slaves, - new portion of bullshit from Russian TV.As you can see - above - putin regime propaganda invents lies materials in most bizzard way. No facts, no proof - nothing - simply to generate hatred against Ukranians and to manipulate with viewers. These are only some examples. But such are common everyday in Russia.
But if you understand russian you would understand this:
https://youtu.be/p4-__Sb4DIc
You dumbfuck the same goes for the BBC.
If you don't like reading something different, then don't read it. Your name is very troll-like.
A slump in key sectors of the Russian economy — including industrial production, retail trade and construction — deepened sharply in May, with the steepest monthly drop in output since September 2009, according to data released Wednesday by state statistics service Rosstat.
Production of goods and services in these primary sectors, which also include agriculture, wholesale trade and haulage, fell 6.8 percent in May year-on-year, according to Rosstat, after sharp falls in previous months. Production in these sectors fell 5.8 percent in April, 2.8 percent in March, 3.1 percent in February and 1.1 percent in January, according to Rosstat.
May's fall is the sharpest since September 2009, when production in these sectors dropped 7.6 percent. Russia's economy, battered by the global financial crisis and a fall in the price of oil, contracted by 7.8 percent that year, according to data from the World Bank.
Russia's economy is expected to shrink by about 3 percent this year as another slump in oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis stifle investment.
Retail trade turnover was hit the hardest in May, falling 9.2 percent in May year-on-year, while industrial output fell 5.5 percent. Agricultural production was one of the few bright spots, rising 2.7 percent in ruble terms as the ruble's devaluation prompted many Russians to choose cheaper domestic products over imports.
In case you missed it, there's a global downturn going on. Actual production is down all over the place, especially in Latvia where I'm told potato crops are down after suffering from "blight".
.
That term in Latvia also describes a congenital brain peculiarity common to honeydippers.
Explains much the ranting copypastes of this newsoutlet guy.
With Russia suddenly unable to access imports that it had grown dependent on, government officials have promoted import substitution as a way to make structural changes to the economy and help the country recover in the short term. Unfortunately, according to IMR analyst Ezekiel Pfeifer, the opportunities presented by domestic production of things like dairy products, chemicals, and naval vessels are limited.
Both Russian consumers and the Italian economy are suffering from an affliction rare in the modern Western world: the absence of Italy’s famous Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or Parmesan, from supermarket shelves. This is the result of the Kremlin’s ban on foodstuffs from a range of Western countries, a measure that was recently extended for a year in response to Western sanctions directed at Russia. But according to President Vladimir Putin and other officials, there is a silver lining to this painful sacrifice: the ban is giving domestic agricultural producers a chance to supply Russians with local bounty. Russia’s national cheese institute even says that industry players want to purchase the equipment necessary to make a version of Parmesan. (The institute didn’t have the technology as of March but said it was hoping to obtain it by the end of the year.) And indeed, there has been a 29 percent boost in Russian cheese production in the first four months of 2015, a figure that Putin touted in his speech to investors at the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Cheese, however, will not be a panacea for Russia’s economic problems—nor will increased agricultural production overall, or import substitution as a trend in the near-term, even though officials are pitching it as a cornerstone of Russia’s nebulous recovery plan. Agriculture makes up only about 4 percent of Russia’s GDP, and last year the sector would have seen a 5.2 percent loss if not for state subsidies. Even if enough money were poured into the sector to make it profitable, the results would take years to appear. As one farmer said, livestock and agricultural products need time to grow: “Fruit orchards and perennials take five to eight years.” Government regulation is an issue as well. Take the example of Parmesan: the Italian delicacy is made with raw milk, which Russian law does not allow in cheese-making, meaning that Russian producers would have trouble duplicating it even with the proper equipment.
To be fair, it’s not that import substitution is just a crazy idea dreamed up by the Kremlin. It is a logical response to the circumstances currently facing Russia: a suddenly weakened currency and restricted access to imports. Indeed, imports fell by 9.2 percent in 2014, or by $29 billion, and Russian consumers should hope that some of them can be replaced—because certain parts of the economy had become quite dependent on foreign goods. Russian industrial production went from 9 percent dependence on imports in 2006 to 15.9 percent in 2013 (including a jump for machine-building of 13.4 percent dependence in 2006 to 36.5 percent in 2013). Many industries significantly cut down on this reliance in early 2015—by up to 70 percent for investment purchases—but they only replaced this spending with domestic purchases by 15 percent or less. In the software sector, it is considered a victory that the share spent this year on imports, which was about 75 percent in 2014, will drop a few percentage points.
Certain sectors, such as commodities and chemicals, are benefiting more from the cheaper ruble and are jumping onto the import substitution bandwagon. They are seeing big gains from exports, because they receive foreign currency that converts to more rubles than it used to, which they can use to pay their domestic expenses and make a profit. A recent analysis by Russian economist Dmitry Belousov identified metals and chemicals as two of the top five industries with potential for a decrease in imports and an increase in exports. It said the decrease in chemical imports could reach $17.8 billion and in metals $8.7 billion, while it estimated the near-term export expansion potential for chemicals at $11.6 billion and for metals at $4.8 billion. Those would be significant figures for the Russian economy.
But Belousov also noted that the ruble’s real effective exchange rate compared to the dollar/euro basket—in other words, its exchange rate after you take into account inflation, which in Russia has ranged from 5 percent to above 8 percent in recent years—has reached essentially the same level it was in 2008. Therefore, the advantages of the ruble’s current weakness are more limited than they might seem at first glance. “The potential for production increases due to the devaluation of the ruble has already been virtually exhausted,” Belousov wrote. This means, he said, that import substitution should focus more on sectors in which Russia specializes or has an inherent edge.
What else, besides chemicals and metals, does Russia specialize in? Weapons, many would say, and indeed the military-industrial complex is thinking about how to address the very serious problems presented by being cut off from components made in Ukraine and the West. The Russian navy is designing new warships to replace ones that depended on foreign components, as well as a replacement for the Mistral-class helicopter carriers Russia had ordered from France. “In essence, we can only thank our Western foes for allowing us to finally revive the branches of our industry that were previously kept down,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s arms industry, blustered in April.
But even if these projects are completed on schedule—which is not likely given the industry’s recent track record—they would take many years. The newly designed corvette naval vessels aren’t supposed to join the Russian fleet until 2019, and the design for the Mistral replacement hasn’t even been confirmed yet. Meanwhile, Russia is losing clients in Eastern Europe due to the EU’s embargo on arms purchases from Russia (although Russia is still the world’s #2 arms exporter behind the U.S., as it has been for years). In other words, Russia not only is losing buyers of its exported arms; it won’t even be able to meet some of its domestic military needs without years of investment.
This is all despite the fact that the government continues to spend trillions of rubles on the military—1.7 trillion rubles in the first four months of 2015, to be exact, or $31 billion, equal to 8 percent of GDP—despite the fact that many economists say the country’s defense spending is a large part of what is holding the economy back. (For comparison’s sake, 8 percent of GDP is more than any other major country in the world except Saudi Arabia. In 2014, the U.S. spent 3.5 percent of GDP on defense and China spent 2.1 percent.) One of the most vocal economists on this subject, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, got fired from the Cabinet in 2011 over his objections to increases in military expenditures—and he was arguing about an increase from under 3 percent to over 4 percent.
Some say the crux of the problem lies in an economy-wide shortage of a crucial ingredient for growth: capital investment. In order to create capacity for import substitution, investment is needed in new facilities and equipment and technology. In that way, the trend of import substitution could be a very positive one for the Russian economy—if it actually happens. The Industry and Trade Ministry created a fund last year for import substitution projects and said the program will cost at least $50 billion (although it has allotted only $44 million thus far, and government enterprises themselves have taken virtually no steps to replace imports). If this money goes toward effective capital expenditures, it will be well-spent.
But the country’s track record for investment spending in recent years has been horrendous. Despite Putin’s order upon regaining the presidency in May 2012 to increase investment in the country by 10 percent a year, in order to reach the level of 25 percent of GDP by 2015, such spending has instead been on the decline almost continuously ever since. The level of investment in 2013 was just 20.3 percent of GDP and in 2014 dropped to 18.9 percent of GDP. The first quarter of this year saw yet another drop in investment, by 6 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2014. Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said in a recent interview that he thinks Russia has still not reached the bottom of this downward trend.
Earlier this year, two economists wrote an article in the Russian journal Issues of Economics about the dependence of various industries (textiles, machine tools, plastics, etc.) on imports from 2006 to 2013 and the potential for decreasing that dependence. The authors concluded that certain Russian industries could have success expanding production of finished goods, such as electrical appliances, using imported components—a step in the direction toward import substitution. Ultimately, however, the authors said: “Import substitution and a decrease in industrial dependence on imports will require the modernization of production facilities—that is, a radical activation of investment and entrepreneurial activity in the Russian economy.”
As economist Sergei Pukhov of the Center for Development said in March, investors are reluctant to make capital outlays at such an unstable time for Russia. Even if businesses and the government did kick start such spending, it usually takes three to five years for it to have a positive effect on the economy. By then, Russia may be re-integrated into the system of world trade, opening domestic producers back up to international competition.
Perhaps Putin, or other people in the government, have a better plan for fixing the economy? Apparently not—Kremlin aides say that Putin is standing pat for now and not considering any new major economic proposals. And that means that the Russian economy (just like Sochi, Kursk, and other cities recently) will just go deeper and deeper underwater.
Looks like a propaganda piece straight from the US State dept.
That's because it is.
what a horrible asignment. your buddies got all the easy web sites and they stuck you with zh. poor naziboy. looks like you need to practice sucking your boss' dick to get a better assignment. he obviously doesn't like being bit.
It's not a hard job, he just cuts and pastes.
I think with this dump he in the head even with a regular job is struggling. Hardly even worthy of daily wage potato.
Proud Populist President Putin says, "Suck my dick, US propaganda troll!"
Cheese Will Not Save the Russian Economy
not going to save the cheese-popes either you retard
I bet the 2 upvotes you got was because it was a negative response to Russia giving the finger to the Western PTB, they didn't even have to read the bulk of your copy and paste.
And no matter how much tired puking on behalf of Obama and his spiteful German shitzu you do, the Ukraine is still far, far worse than Russia will ever be. The Ukraine is a banana republic without the bananas, thanks to an endless succession of violent and corrupt imbeciles running the Ukrainian govt who always seems to know better than the last batch of violent and corrupt individuals.
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/07/ukrainian-economy-after-year-of-ref...
"thanks to an endless succession of violent and corrupt imbeciles running the Ukrainian govt"
on par with their sponsor, wouldn''t you say.
NATO? Tits on a boar.
No matter what happens, the Euro will be damaged. It was inevitable when they (corrupt Greece leaders, European financial overlords and Goldman Sachs) had to hide the true nature of Greek debt in order to qualify to join the EU. For some reason they wanted them in, knowing their debt was already too great. Maybe every fiat currency needs a basketcase that will need endless handouts of freshly created money out of thin air. This assists with the high level money laundering that has to occur now. There is precious little collateral left to back up the enormous world debt, and it is being fought over.
READ MORE HERE: https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/budget-debates-reveal-russias-weakness
stratfor, lol. russia won another one, naziboy.
Once this fucking loathsome fudgepacking Communist leaves office I hope to see a serious re-think when it comes to Russia on the part of Dumbfuckistan.
Here is a lummox.
Despite the obviously disastrous results. Stratfor continues to peddle the decades-old Brzezinski strategy of weakening Russia ahead of all other geopolitical considerations. My advice to Stratfor: get over it, look around and face the world as it is today, and dethrone your favorite Polish patriot.
worst problem for merkel is explaining to german tax payer why germany was keeping greeks banks on life support since the start of 2015 and failed negotiations with the fuckis
My previous comment is gone! Scary.
Quote " Merkel — the pragmatic economist, the other was Merkel — the great European. "
The great traitor is probably more correct . I haven't forgotten the derailing of the " South Stream Project " that was absolutely for the benefit of Europe , but was derailed because Merkel's masters wanted to displease Putin . I have not forgotten the sanctions against Russia and her cooperation in the coup d'etat in Kiev .
I have not forgotten her cooperation in previous colored revolutions in Eastern Europe sponsored by her masters . Merkel is the tool of the CIA in Europe and I enjoy watching the collapse of the castle of cards called the EU of the vassalls .
Yes, Putin isn't part of the eyes wide shut orgy group that Merkel is part of.
I'm beginning to understand that the players at the top are all part of "cliques" the same type we had in highschool, sure, they're more deviant and sadistic but there's no real difference.
first the ashkenazis support real nazis in ukraine and now they show the world it is because they are nazis, too.
So..you're saying H was fighting fire with fire?
i wonder how this works in europe where it is against the law to criticize jews but encouraged to criticize nazis. if the jews are nazis, does that present a loophole in the laws.
Gloats? More like telling it the way it is. MSM zombies on full auto always describe Germany as the 'economic european/global/galalactic' powerhouse. Ain't so. Depending on whose figs you use, about 70pc of the Fatherland's 'exports' go to the E-zone, which is like calling a car made in MI an export when sold in CA. Most of the 'advantage' stems from the massive undervaluation of the d-mark in 1999 when the euro was first issued, compounded quickly by disreputable lending by grade-F kraut and Austrian banks.
German quality? Fair-to-middling at best. Consumer goods? If you live in europe -- I do -- you will have first-hand experience of kraut products that are indifferently made, don't work right, weren't packed right and often were never fit for purpose in the first place. Ever try to get a good cup of joe out of a 'german engineered' appliance? Or tried to keep a kraut engineered fridge from falling apart? Don't bother. As for the cars, slobbering US-based writers (often slimey limey kneepad artists) care more about freebies at Nurburgring and test cars in NV than about reality. You want a good car? Buy Japanese or, OMIGOD, American or Korean. My 2014 Jetta is engineered no better than my 1978 Z-car.
Internally, Deutschland demographics suck donkey dick. Ever tried the plumbing in a Pomeranian town with a birth:death ratio of about 1.1:1? The shit smell sticks to everything, there's no pressure in the sewers because the town is already near dead. Then remember that Merkel (not by coincidence childless herself so no Rheinmaiden) once said the only thing she missed growing up in the GDR was the lack of decent plain yogurt. She wasn't joking.
Ubermenschen? Well, they are strutting again, as is their wont. Bring it on.
The way forward shd be clear, even to those in mom's basement.
She's our Bundeskanzlerin, and I say, Fuck Her. (Just not with my dick. I'd prefer self-abuse to boning that pig).
Good on the Greeks! The only winning move is not to play.
Putin just wants to watch Vikings: Season 4 like the rest of us.
Your avatar belies you.
It's the Dukes of Heliopolis, someday the Euro might get 'em but the krauts never will
Merkel is a NWO bankster TOG. She does what she is told.
.
.
Author and ZHers:
1) laugh contemptuously at the West.
2) orgasm while they spout off utopian/nihilistic/anarchist wet dreams of fiscal and monetary sanctimony....yet...
3) ...side with - if not fully embrace - totalitarian dictators who would will crush them given the slightest interest.
4) ...because...BANKSTERS!!!1!!eleventy!
Worse, they are just repeating what Der Spiegel said:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/merkel-s-leadership-has-faile...
When the next German elections come around (2017 August at earliest) Mutti will have long been put out to pasture. By then even the dimmest of Teutons will have grasped how Merkel sold out her staunch Christian tax cattle and the fat boy Gabriel, who is more Blair than the psychopath Tony, will be dumped like a piece of dead meat. Germany will tear itself apart in the coming years as the TTIP drowns Urupp in USSA poison and Russia sanctions wreak havoc on the collapsing German economy. Soon the enormous pile of feces that is Deutsche Bank will implode in a tsunami of Goldman Sucks toxic derivative filth and German "savers" will experience the delights which they have so gleefully inflicted on Greek tax payers in the last five years of Brussels style torture and debasement.
All in all the STASI NSA GESTAPO Manchurian damsel has done a splendid job of ensuring that Germany will never discover its manhood in this generation at least or until the SPD slash CDU political gangsters have long been booted out and forgotten.
Onward to the collap$€!
For all those ruskie trolls out there - you will understand:
https://youtu.be/GxegpjVYa_A
The "ruskie trolls" might understand, but the rest of us who do not speak Russian, cannot.
Russia still wipes its ass with the Ukraine. Where can you point to that the Ukraine is better off than it was before the Maidan. It's been a year. Where is the progress? There is none. No amount of pro-chocolate or pro-potato bullshit you spew can change this salient fact.
Think about this:
Article by: Vitaliy PortnikovUkraine will end 2015 with its worst ever rate of economic growth. Vladimir Putin might be feeling triumphant. No wonder he tirelessly “poured gasoline” on Ukraine, annexed Crimea, and started slaughtering people on Donbas. Now everyone can see for themselves what Maidan must really mean. If you go out to protest, then your territory will be taken away, you’ll see war, your national currency will fall. But where there are no protests, life is just fine for the docile and responsible…
Only now life for the docile and responsible is no better than that of the troublemakers. In the rankings of economic declines, Russia is right down there with Ukraine.
Both countries have almost the same decline in GDP: Ukraine – 4 percent as compared with the fourth quarter of last year. In Russia it’s 3.5 percent. And this despite the fact that Ukraine has lost territory, while Russia has acquired territory. This despite the fact that there is a war in Ukraine, while in Russia there is peace. This despite the fact that Ukraine has no energy to export, while Russia has both oil and gas. Nevertheless, the Russian economy is going to hell in a handbasket!
You say it’s because of the sanctions? Don’t make my Iskander missiles laugh! You said yourself that sanctions have not had a serious impact on the economy, and indeed – they hardly touched the gas sector, and oil is still being bought. You say, it’s because of the fall in oil prices? But at the same time you increased sales of oil. And still it is unclear why the decrease in Russia’s economy is equal to that of Ukraine, which has no oil sales whatsoever. It is strange, isn’t it?
I will happily explain everything to you. The fact is that Ukraine prior to its “revolution of dignity” was run by stupid greedy thieves who never for a moment thought about the future. These thieves plundered and destroyed the country.
Ukraine isn’t exactly run by angels today, but these less-than-angels are now forced to listen to the recommendations of international financial organizations and pay attention to the mood of the population.
This is precisely why, even during war, a fallen national currency, and a rather sluggish pace of reform, Ukraine’s GDP has only declined 4 percent.
But in Russia, GDP decline is a close 3.5%. In Russia there should not have been such a decline. There are no objective reasons for it. There are of course plenty of subjective reasons. Russia continues to be run by stupid greedy thieves, very similar to those of Ukraine’s recent past. By the way, Ukraine’s thieves also moved on to Russia, but fortunately for the Russians, they don’t run anything any longer, they just give interviews. About how they love ostriches. But for the final robbery and destruction of the Russian economy, Russia has enough of its own thieves.
If it is true that even the chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, the high and mighty Bastrykin, is appointed on the recommendation of crime bosses, you can appreciate the full extent of the gangster occupation of the country. This is no exaggeration. It is even an understatement of the problem. Because it turns out that when a Bastrykin fights with the Tsapkys [a notorious Russian gang — Ed.], this is not a war between the state and the gang, but a war between the big gang and the little one. All of Russia is such an enormous colony of thieves legally inside the Kremlin and the White House [in Russia it houses the State Duma, the Russian parliament — Ed.], the master gangsters in the FSB and the State Duma, and their servants – the television propagandists. And you say – 3.5 percent!
What will happen next? The same thing of course, don’t doubt it. It’s like the movement of the escalator. If you are on the stairway that leads downward – you will undoubtedly reach the subterranean depths. And vice versa – if you decide to go up to the surface, as you exit, you can take a deep breath. Yes, you may encounter rain or catch a cold, but still you’ll be on earth, not in your grave.
As paradoxical as it may sound, despite its 4 percent decline, Ukraine’s GDP is rising. It is rising–despite the war, the populist politicians, the sabotaging officials, the still paternalistic society, the lack of a professional approach to reform. It is rising, despite resistance at every step. However awkwardly, it continues to climb, even as it sputters, resentful, cursing, swearing at the president and the government, wondering why a miracle hasn’t happened and why the West won’t help.
Yet Russia is majestically going down – despite the oil, gas and other resources bestowed by providence. Despite peacetime and the absence of any external threats – the threats exist only in the feverish imagination of those going down. Russia’s economy goes down without even trying to change anything, because of unfulfilled hopes and heroic Vladimir Vladimirovich and the stupid thieving Caudle he’s surrounded by, cursing a monstrous Obama and an unfaithful Merkel.
We have just fixed in time the moment when two neighboring countries wound up meeting at the same level – 4 and 3.5 percent declines. But the directions in which they are moving are different. It’s like on the subway. Here we are, riding escalators going in opposite directions, and it turns out, we are right across from one another. Let us look each other in the eye for the last time – only please put away your assault rifle and turn off your TV. That’s not how to say goodbye. And don’t say “until we meet again.” We will never meet again.
Yeah the Ukraine isn't a whorehouse and the economy is rising...based on what? generous AmeriKan taxpayer handouts? Obama-styled wishful and hopeful thinking that posions USSA media with bullshit? You took that shit off the Kiev Post...no, they have no interest at all in lying to make themselves look better than the banana republic that they are and neither does this Ukrainian reporter either...until he goes off message. then they break his thumbs. He goes off message again, they break his wife's thumbs.
Anything to make investors think they aren't throwing their money down into a corrupt shithole that people can't seem to get away from fast enough, except for the true believers.
Article by: Vitaliy Portnikov
Ukraine will end 2015 with its worst ever rate of economic growth. Vladimir Putin might be feeling triumphant. No wonder he tirelessly “poured gasoline” on Ukraine, annexed Crimea,
Dictated Pyatt
Executed Nuland
I doubt Russia or Putin is 'gloating'. They want to do business with the Euro-nations and need a peaceful border. They have made that point dozens of times. The us and the eu (Brussels) have made this virtually impossible with their fascist arrogant chatter.
Sure Putin will deal with Greece, may even help them. Doesn't mean he won't deal with Germany or France and the others as well. He will deal with anyone that is willing to make a fair deal. Proof is the Mistrals that France won't deliver even after being pre-paid. They are now going to re-pay Russia probably via the ufsa money printing Federal Reserve. All France did was screw itself at the behest of the ufsa. The same can be said about the eu screwing itself by sanctions again at the behest of the ufsa.
At least Greece -up to this point- is showing a little backbone. Something the other ufsa vassal eu nations might take notice.
Plan B: USA to the rescue.
1) Look for a USA-orchestrated coup by EU/bankster-loving greek generals.
2) If this fails then its on to World War 3, which will save the EU by nuking it into oblivion. Rising from the ashes will be a truly stateless EU.
The EU is the globalist centerpiece, it cannot be allowed to spin apart, that would set everything back 100 years.
I'd like to know what the germans think? their one of the last true manufacturing based economies in the eu, and their being hoodwinked, by the cb's into ruining their buyer base.. Italians French, even latin americans are celebrating, the NWO flaw, the 1%ers, THEY want 99% of the money, but they have to get it from 99% of the population.
putins not gloating, hes watching his anti-NWO beliefs being fordwarded,.
If I boil this article I get a simple four-word statement:
We rule. You suck.
Except... so what? This serves no purpose, but certainly makes it clear where at least one of the Tyler's is coming from.
This is not your father's socialism
This item criticizes Merkel unfairly. Her dedication to a united Europe is genuine and admirable. If she has made any mistakes they may be the following: her willingness to defer to US policy in Ukraine, and her expectation that Greeks and their government are basically honest.
I'm surprised as to how Frau Bundeskanzlerin (started to study a little German, since they're one of the few countries that actually protects their mfg base) would be at the forefront of European Sanctions against RUS - considering their trade volume and the USA's repeated Spy Jinks and NATO Drone-induced Regime Changes.
Herr Schröder showed his Pair when he refused to go into Iraq for the Regime Change/Oil Claims War; but somehow, (If Wiki is up to date) he ended up working for the Rothchilds' IB and now serves as the COB for Nordstream.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der
Here's my question to ZH Folks in the Know:
So do the Rothchilds control Nordstream indirectly? I don't mind private entities investing into legitimate business operations; but IIRC, Nordstream had heavy "State Owned" Agencies involved.
IMHO, since the Nordstream (and NS2) "are" vital to RUS and DEU(not to mention the most of Northern/Western Europe), Mr. Putin/FB Merkel, the Honorables of the Parliaments, and the Russian and German Peoples should be concerned with the Private Placement Listing.
This is one case where NationStates need to own and direct the Majority Share of Assets and Operations.