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Why A Russian Default Is A Very Real Scenario In 2016
Submitted by Marin Katusa via KatusaResearch.com,
Debt.
Everyone understands it pretty well when it comes to their personal finances. You borrow money, you have to pay it back. If you can’t, your creditor hounds you until you either come up with the cash or restructure your repayment schedule. Or, worst case, you eventually file for bankruptcy, thereby defaulting on your debt. Simple.
Yet people, especially in the West, seem blithely unaware that the same basic principles apply to countries, as well. Most of us tend to think that nations can’t or won’t default on their debt. Well … maybe Greece will. But surely not a big country.
Why we believe this is partly due to an ignorance of history, which features literally countless defaults, among nations great and small. Even the US has done it. More than once. It happened right at the beginning, in 1779, when the fledgling US nation defaulted on its first currency, the Continental (which led to widespread use of an early American pejorative phrase: “not worth a Continental.”) And a very recent example was when Nixon severed the tie between gold and the dollar in 1971; that was a default on the precious metal debt the country owed to France and others.
It’s also partly due to the current financial behavior of the American government, which acts as if the cure for a debt problem is more debt (do not try this at home, by the way). As Congress raises the federal debt ceiling, and the Federal Reserve creates ever more currency units out of thin air, it creates the illusion of stability. All it’s really doing, though, is just kicking the can down the road. The US has placed itself firmly on this path. But that doesn’t ensure that the rest of the world’s nations can or will follow the same one.
Particularly Russia.
In 2014, I published The Colder War, which became a New York Times Bestseller. Vladimir Putin, Russia, oil and energy were all dissected in my book, which today is every bit as timely as it was when I wrote it in 2013. Because of the decade I spent researching the book, I have a very unique Westerner’s perspective on Russia.
Here’s one of the things I learned: Russia is completely unafraid of a default on its debt.
Russia was a basket case in the 1990’s. The first war in Chechnya was a disaster, both economically and psychologically for the Russians. Russia not only lost that war, it had a disaster of an economy, ran a huge governmental budget deficit, and was stuck with a very unfavorable fixed exchange rate between the ruble and the currencies of all its trading partners. The country was barely staying afloat.
Then, on top of all that, came the two additional straws that finally broke the Bear’s back: the Asian financial crisis and a crash in oil prices.
But the West totally mis-guessed the eventual outcome. The World Bank and the IMF arrogantly assumed the Russians would continue to play by their rules. In fact, years later it was leaked that billions in IMF relief funds had headed east, where they were “misplaced.” Or, in laymen’s terms, stolen before they even hit the Russian bank accounts.
On August 17, 1998, the so-called “Russian flu” infected world markets. Moscow announced that a moratorium would be placed on payments to foreign creditors. In addition, the ruble was devalued by 33% (from 7.1RUR/USD to 9.5RUR/USD). Within a few months, the government allowed the ruble to float freely and the currency devalued by another 120% to 21RUR/USD. There were bank closures, political fall guys and rabid inflation.
The Russian oligarchs, many of them ruthless criminals, made their moves—and consolidated their wealth at levels that would make the American robber barons blush.
Into this chaos, in 1999, entered Vladimir Putin—one of the most mischaracterized politicians on the planet. An archetypal Russian strong man, he brutally squashed the Chechen revolt and moved decisively to bring the oligarchs under state control, which meant killing or imprisoning them, or driving them into exile. Most importantly, he committed massive resources to reviving an energy sector that had fallen into disrepair, and made it quasi-public with companies headed up by his buddies and inner circle. As prices moved upwards, Russian crude oil output expanded like crazy to become #1 in the world and the economy boomed, as did Putin’s global agenda.
Through a series of deft political maneuverings, Putin still controls Russia 16 years later. During that time, he has stayed enormously popular among his countrymen despite policies that Westerners (and some dissenting Russians) find reprehensible. His prolonged supremacy is quite a feat, given how the byzantine nature of Russian politics laid low any number of his predecessors. But he’s done it by persuading the mass of the people that he always acts in what he sees as the best way to push Mother Russia to the head of the table among nations, and that in that pursuit he’s willing to let all manner of chips fall where they may.
Today, Russia is in crisis again, having been hit with the double whammy of plummeting energy prices and heavy sanctions laid on by the West over Putin’s foreign policy. Given the country’s struggling economy, it’s puzzling why the world is ignoring the risk of Russia defaulting on its debt. Again. And why it may be underestimating Putin. Again.
Why a Russian Default is a very real scenario in 2016
The IMF is loaning billions to Ukraine. In addition, NATO is spending billions in Ukraine on a war that has lasted longer than any US or NATO official expected. The West, led by the US, has put national sanctions on Russia, and personal ones on many of Putin’s associates—despite a clear historical record that shows sanctions almost never achieve their stated ends.
To understand how misguided this is, you just have to ask one question: Who holds the majority of the debt that would be at risk in a Russian default? Not China. Not Iran. Not Syria. No, it’s the exact same nations, and banks and funds within those nations, that are applying the sanctions against Russia.
So, if Russia does default, what does it mean in terms of its political relationship with the West?
Nothing.
But what does it mean to its creditors?
Everything.
They’re the ones who will take the hit. And by the way, to anyone who thinks they will be able to enforce their nation’s debt laws on the Russian government or any Russian companies, I have this to say: I wish you the best of luck.
Don’t buy my story?
Here is a chart of Brent Oil pricing verses the 10-year Russian credit default swaps (CDS).
The market is completely mispricing the Russian CDS, by totally ignoring the potential for a Russian Default.
For comparison purposes, in the oil crash of late 2008 early 2009, Russian CDS popped 600% to over 7%. (The CDS market can be a bit complicated, but in general terms, the higher the rate, the more perceived risk is being priced into the market.)
Even earlier this year, with the Brent price of oil trading higher than it does now, the CDS were 100% more expensive. But they’ve since fallen to around 3%, which is absurd, as oil is lower now than when the CDS were at 100% higher rate—therefore if the market was paying attention, CDS should have a “higher” rate now than earlier this year.
The market is assuming that Putin will play by the western bankers’ rules; therefore there is no fear that the Russians might default on their debt.
Otherwise, there’s no reason Russian CDS would be 50% lower than earlier this year, given the fall in the price of oil, which is critical to their economy.
Has something else changed?
Are we in some better place globally now? I highly doubt it for many reasons, but how about I just mention one horrific fact: the world has never seen more displaced persons—ever— than we currently have at over 60 million.
Or has Putin merely distracted the Western world by diverting its interest to Ukraine and Syria?
Those are relatively small items on Russia’s policy agenda. Putin’s real focus is on strengthening his country’s economy by ramping up business with China and the emerging markets. That is where the future lies. If Putin can’t entirely eliminate all dependence on the West, he’s certainly moving forcefully to greatly diminish its influence.
The $400 billion natural gas deal he signed with China in 2014 is just one powerful indicator.
In a few words, if Putin believes that the benefits of a default outweigh the consequences to his country, he won’t hesitate to do it, no matter the international ruckus it might raise.
So … my advice is that if you are invested in any funds or banks that are exposed to debt in Russia, I would rethink your investment thesis. The rules of the game are apt to change quickly, and not to the foreign debt holders’ benefit.
And, if you like ironic coincidences, I’ll close with this one.
Donald Trump is the current leader for the Republican presidential nomination. During his business career, he’s helmed four companies that filed for Chapter 11. Which just happens to be the same number of Russian bankruptcies that have occurred during ‘The Donald’s’ lifetime.
Who knows, ‘The Donald’ and Putin might end up the best of friends…
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So it will then come down to "come and take it"
If I were Putin, I'd make sure I run up the debt as far as possible (maxing out the global credit card, so to speak) before using the "poor ol' me" card and defaulting.
Specifically: to hell with the creditors. They should have known better.
....yeah, and I'd get extra butter on my popcorn.
I hope you financed that butter.
No you Hedge butter......
Molwn lave! It never gets old does it?
History repeats itself even after thousands of years ;p
Why invent all this nonsense. There is simply no reason for default as Russian foreign reserves are more than enough to repay the debt.
Last I saw Russia's government debt to GDP ration was 18%.
The USSA was 109%.
Who writes this shit?
US default in 2016 is way more likely.
Perhaps this is just the experience needed for the next President?
"Donald Trump is the current leader for the Republican presidential nomination. During his business career, he’s helmed four companies that filed for Chapter 11"
Russian govt's debt is low - it's not going to become a problem, true. The Russian corporate sector's foreign debts are much higher though. Think energy, miners and banks. Russia's forex reserves will have to cover a substantial part of those and they would be insufficient to refinance ALL of those. The author is wrong on this count - there will be considerable costs for the Russian economy in case of a default. In addition, it may derail putin's modernization efforts. So this is not something that Putin will prefer to do. The author is right, however, that russia will default if costs of not defaulting start to considerably outweigh the costs of a default. But then again, that is probably true for 99.9% of all corporations and countries allover the world, right?
"As Congress raises the federal debt ceiling, and the Federal Reserve creates ever more currency units out of thin air, it creates the illusion of stability. All it’s really doing, though, is just kicking the can down the road."
It IS default, to the extent that the money creation outpaces productivity gains. Does anyone believe that US productivity has doubled since 2006? Or, tripled since 2001? US debt's quadrupled since Perot ran for office(92). 18 times since Reagan went into office. 47 times since the crook Nixon closed the gold window. Debasement is an ongoing theft.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/US_Public_Debt_Ceili...
The Russian government debt is now $32 bln while the Russian Central Bank foreign reserves are $373 bln. So the reserves are more than 10 times larger than the debt. Now there are some state-owned corporations with large debt. But even with current energy prices both Gasprom and Rosneft are profittable, so they are likely to repay their debt on their own. In unfouvarable scenario they will tap into the CB reserves that are still more than sufficient to cover all the debt in the coming years. The worst outcome for them is to pause their capital investment. There is no chance of default in sight.
Unless there is a way to profit from the coming default, which I'm fairly certain there is. Just like with ruble denomination circa Q4 2014.
The Russian gov could make it illegal for a state owned corp to pay back the bonds. This is an older article so I am not sure if the proposal passed but it has certainly been considered.
http://russia-insider.com/en/president-may-gain-authority-suspend-debt-p...
Reserves are going up. It says $49 Billion in gold alone.
http://www.cbr.ru/eng/hd_base/default.aspx?PrtId=mrrf_m
$90 Billion of US debt.
http://www.treasury.gov/ticdata/Publish/mfh.txt
If it isn't gold in their hands, they better beware. The West has a motive to freeze/seize their accounts.
Didn't this asshole use to write for Casey Research?
The point is they can't be forced to deploy those reserves in case of default. And I don't think they will have much time for the self-regulating counterparties either.
Its not the lack of ability to pay, its the lack of desire to pay.
Exactly!
Strategic default.
If it makes strategic sense for Russia to do it, they might. All is fair in love and war.
Just like when upside down home owners mailed in the house keys to the mortgage company. It was in their calculated best financial interest to do so, even with certain negative ramifications. Why pay off interest and principle on a $1M house when it's only worth $700K?
And what is the evidence of such lack of desire?
Lavrov told me last night while we watched Caddyshack and smoked blunts.
"And what is the evidence of such lack of desire?"
It has been all over the Russian medias, in English translation.
USA, same thing...
I wish I could count the number of times I watched some Wall Street corporate behemoth go from being worth X one day, to X - Y Billion dollars the next. Earnings get restated going back for years, "off balance sheet", i.e., hidden, liabilities get written down. Inventories are liquidated at a fraction of book. Fixed assets turn out to be worthless. Employees are fired and massive restructuring costs are incurred. Stock goes to zero. Bonds go into default and sell for pennies on the dollar.
I figure the USA will go down like that except the billions will be trillions. Dollar bills are like stock with .o1 dividends. UST's will probably be a screaming buy at some point but not until yields do what governments in Russia did. If I were Russian, my ruble investments would be in bonds and gold right now. I'm leaving Russia alone, myself, because of the currency and political risks.
"NATO is spending billions in Ukraine on a war that has lasted longer than any US or NATO official expected."
War was started by criminal putin regime invasion in Ukraine - part of it has been occupied and than annexed and part of it is still under occupation of criminal putin regime terrorists.
NATO is not spending on war in Ukraine. There are some countries that support Ukraine with what they can in order for Ukraine to stand against criminal putin regime. And so Ukraine people has won criminal putin regime. Criminal putin regime lost Ukraine - now to get russkies attention away from Ukraine, it started to kill civilians in Syria by bombing them.
This is why Russia will go bankrupt under criminal putin regime rule:
The reason why putin regime is suffering economic recession is not only because of low oil prices (look at Norway who also is oil exporting country) and EU & US sanctions on putin regime – problem roots goes much deeper than that. It goes back into 2001 – 2003 when oil prices where booming and Russia economy just started to get on it’s feet from crisis that hit 1998.
Cash from oil was flowing in Russia economy and it kept that way for next 10 years which was a chance for putin regime to make decision what way will Russia develop. One option was to invest in developing: industrial complex, agriculture, science, democracy, free market, free media, civil rights, free elections, fight with corruption – that all would bring to Russia more foreign investment, differentiate economy structure, stabilize social structure, etc. But instead putin regime choose different path: create regime control over media, attack opposition till their leaders jailed, killed, silenced, etc. Court system works for regime, but regarding economy putin regime didn’t invest in: industrial complex, agriculture, science, etc. – because it was easier to earn money now from oil export and buy everything needed as import from EU, US, China etc. So year by year more Russian manufacturing companies closed because could not compete with EU, US, China import. In order to stop unemployment level from rising in Russia – putin regime made different steps, like increased bureaucrats, created different kind ofprojects that had nothing to do with economic reason. Of course all those projects where created in order to steal more and more Russian nation money that was coming in from oil.
So more cash to elite, more simple jobs to people of Russia and everyone put on blind eye on corruption and economic reason and that could work for 10 years. Because oil export was booming, price of oil was high and everyone get his share of a pie. If something was necessary – it was simply imported. So In result today Russia manufacturing industry can’t work without importing many parts that are produced in EU, US. Now what that means for Russia economy in future? It means that as RUB continues to collapse it’s more and more expensive for manufacturing industry to produce anything as they need to import parts from EU, US but they must pay more and more RUB. In result their products get’s more and more expensive and they loose the market share. So they have to lay off more workers and this problem only will increase.
There is no way out of this. RUB will crash because of low oil prices and because Russia economy structure is not differentiated (as for example Norway has) and linked to oil export. Problem with Russia economy started before putin regime invaded Ukraine. It goes back into 2013. So only way for putin regime to stay in power is to create artificial outside enemy in order to mobilize Russian patriotism so that Russian do not to attack putin regime who makes him self as only savior. This can be done only if putin regime controls main stream media – which is what putin regime does. Putin regime and it’s elite knows that there is no way out of this situation. They know Russia is heading for a collapse. But they have no options to solve this. They know they have been stealing oil money for more than 10 years, they know they have been breaking international law by invading other countries like Georgia and Ukraine. They know they can’t simply leave their positions. Because than they will be hanged. And they know they can’t escape Russia economy collapse.
They know they can’t start full open war with Ukraine or worse with NATO – that would only make Russia collapse faster. They are stuck. And have no way out of this situation. Of course China know that, US knows that, EU knows that. So everyone will take their actions to get more benefit out of this and to protect it’s interests. Time is not on putin regime side.
For those who do understand Russian:
https://youtu.be/RPCSfooll_w?t=39m9s
My prediction is that putin regime will collapse in time frame something around June 2016. It will get ugly and bloody.
LOL...
I'm sorry - when did the Putin regime invade Ukraine?
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/22/crimeans-keep-saying-no-to-ukraine/
I think its cute how you skip any effort at nuance and nakedly claim that Russia's economic woes are the result of Putin - and not the oligarchs who raped Russia under Yeltsin, nor US sanctions of questionable morality and legality {since yes, Message, there was a US-backed coup in a country on Russia's doorstep very far away from america's shores}.
In short, your claim that Russia's problems go back to 2013 is beyond absurd. It is the claim of someone either intent on lying, or someone who knows very little of the sole topic of their trolling.
" After seven years of economic “reform” financed by billions of dollars in U.S. and other Western aid, subsidized loans and rescheduled debt, the majority of Russian people find themselves worse off economically. The privatization drive that was supposed to reap the fruits of the free market instead helped to create a system of tycoon capitalism run for the benefit of a corrupt political oligarchy that has appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars of Western aid and plundered Russia’s wealth.
The architect of privatization was former First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais, a darling of the U.S. and Western financial establishments. Chubais’s drastic and corrupt stewardship made him extremely unpopular. According to The New York Times, he “may be the most despised man in Russia.”
Essential to the implementation of Chubais’s policies was the enthusiastic support of the Clinton Administration and its key representative for economic assistance in Moscow, the Harvard Institute for International Development. Using the prestige of Harvard’s name and connections in the Administration, H.I.I.D. officials acquired virtual carte blanche over the U.S. economic aid program to Russia, with minimal oversight by the government agencies involved. With this access and their close alliance with Chubais and his circle, they allegedly profited on the side. Yet few Americans are aware of H.I.I.D.’s role in Russian privatization, and its suspected misuse of taxpayers’ funds. "
http://www.thenation.com/article/harvard-boys-do-russia/
The Yeltsin years and the oligarchs
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/2769
Harvard Mafia, Andrei Shleifer and the Economic Rape of Russia
http://www.softpanorama.org/Skeptics/Pseudoscience/harvard_mafia.shtml
THE RAPE OF RUSSIA - An Excerpt from: THE WAR AGAINST PUTIN
http://www.tomatobubble.com/id563.html
"Why is it that the liberal American billionaires who support Obongo are referred to as “investors” or “philantropists”; but Russian billionaires who support Putin are always “oligarchs”? This double standard is especially misleading because, in reality, it is the U.S. billionaires who act as oligarchs, pulling Obongo’s strings on matters ranging from taxes to immigration to foreign policy. Money-junkie scum such as Soros, Weinstein, Saban, Sulzberger, Immelt, Rockefeller and Buffett all tell Obongo what to do. On the Republican side, Sheldon Adelson alone is expected to pump $100 million into the campaign to elect Jeb Bush in 2016. But in Russia, as even this article admits, it is Putin who ranks above the “oligarchs”."
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=108926
*******************
Enemy Within: Declassified U.S. Documents Show Russian Oligarchs Supported NATO Expansion
http://russia-insider.com/en/rise-and-fall-russian-oligarchy/5730
*******************
https://stopputinregime.wordpress.com
Your above message may very well be true; however that same narrative is applicable to the US as well. Many of the same structural problems
less the heavy reliance on oil. One sentece jumped out at me, and here the two situations are very different:
" They know they can’t simply leave their positions. Because than they will be hanged."
Our leaders have no fears of this type of result. So if what you say is so, then I envy the Russian people for having balls.
Russian people are don't have balls to stand against a criminal regime that steals away their money and sells out their land.
Don't mix russians people with criminal putin regime:
putin regime in eyes of ordinary russian seems to be doing right job by standing against everyone and everywhere. Seems is correct word, because he is not putting Russians and Russia in first place, because he:
Is that in interest of russians? I don't think so
" They know they can’t simply leave their positions. Because than they will be hanged."
So what were you implying when you typed the above sentence?
Criminal putin regime elite.
FFS Tyler, can you ban this shitty troll already?
We have enough problems sifting through the propaganda these days as it is.
Truth backed by facts - is bad for criminal putin regime and it's propaganda.
We've got a paid Ukie shill drunk on potato vodka in our presence.
Son, you're about as useful as teats on a bull.
Now get back to raising your beets and potatos on that lovely Chenobyl soil.
PUTIN!!!!!!!!
Spinoffs and rhetoric are not facts shoeboy
Well, in fairness - at least he's posting on a Russia-related article. C'est la vie.
Before, he was threadjacking left and right, enough that I basically gave up reading ZH comments on my phone on the train.
So are you saying Putin and the regime elite will hang themselves?, because if not then I'm assuming
you meant the Russian peoples doing the hanging, WHICH---takes balls!!! Re: my previous post.
You are lost
So says Mr Potato Head...
message is the latest handle of the banned user newsoutlet.
OK, if you say so Mr. Pot
Sincerely, the kettle.
Here we go again the coup, facts show that Putin ordered the invasion of Crimea even before Yanukovych had fled office in the dead of night, with billions$$. Yanukovych was later impeached by the Party of Regions controlled parliament by a vote of 328 to 0. Asked why he left" I wont get elected again", now he sits in Russia funding the rebels with Ukraine's money, and wanted by Interpol. Oh And by they way, the government was democratically elected, so there was no coup quit lying comrade
LOL! yeah lovely Kiev and Ukraine where any dissent is met with murder. At this point, the Ukrainian Army would probably lose a ground war with Ecuador or Chile. I also think DPR (Donestsk) and LPR (Lughansk) could probably beat any European nation with the exception of maybe Poland or Germany.
The UK army and military has shruken to almost nothing. My guess is most Western European countries would welcome DPR's Alexander Zakharchenko if he and DPR evicted the invading muslims from Europe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUmSrhEJnSw
Zakharchenko is a Christian unlike the leaders in Kiev, Brussels, London and Washington DC.
"Zakharchenko is a Christian"
He maybe declares him self that way - but no real christian would: steal, kill, lie and do other kind of sins according to christianity. So he is no christian. He is just a pathetic bandit who is affraid of his life because of the crimes he has done as criminal putin regime puppet.
Who dare to speak here against Putin? I didn't heard such think here very long time.
This voice is like critique of USSR inside USSR. They silenced all such voices.
On ZH are presented ONLY PUTIN POSITIVE articles. It's very very hard to find A SINGLE Putin NEGATIVE ONE. This site presents Russian media propaganda in English language.
Anybody could make its own statistic of articles on ZH.
My long term observation is that here are presented:
ONLY PUTIN POSITIVE articles (never negative)
ALMOST ONLY US/EU/WEST NEGATIVE articles
regarding China is a mixed bag: positive and negative info.
Big pity, the reader do NOT get here balanced information.
For this reason is REALLY NECESSARY to combine ZH propaganda with Western media propaganda and USE YOUR OWN BRAIN TO SORT info from both sides.
"He maybe declares him self that way - but no real christian would: steal, kill, lie and do other kind of sins according to christianity. So he is no christian."
You don't know too many christians, do you.
his government is not illegal, and the only military operation going on in the ukraine is the so called anti-terror operation. there's no war with russia.
putin's administration is extremely popular and there's no way it would collapse. russia is not ukraine.
Message,
you're gonna get bloodied with lots & lots of red-arrows when espousing any position that isn't rabidly pro-putin round here. and for my part, i do also like the russian president (i mean, really, am i supposed to stand behind these cunts in DC simply because they pretend to be US citizens? hardly).
but i must at the same time concede that you've made a very strong argument throughout. and on its surface, the lack of industrial development in russia would strike the casual observer as the hubristic miscalculation of a tin-pot tyrant riding crude-oil tsunami all the way back to super-power-status...trying to accomplish in two decades what should require two generations.
but, consider for a moment the possibility that putin is, in fact, a long-term stratigist; and it is instead our imbeciles in DC who've been hasty in effecting their ambitions.
to begin with, no russian in his right mind would ever suppose that russia could possibly compete with german manufacturing (no matter how much state support they received); similarly, every sensible germann knows that germany needs resources -- lots of em -- to maintain her merchantilist ways.
now, insofar as the great and ancient fear in france, england, holland, the us, etc. has been -- and will always be -- the economic union of germany and russia, it must at least occur to the thinker that there are certain power structures in russia and germany (and china) that may want to see this union welded through the baltics and buffered in the far east with low-end manufacturing and conumption from china....curiously, this is the overt strategy that putin has pursued.
it should also interest the observer to note that jc junker recently lambasted DC and publically stated that europe (germany) will no longer accept DC's dictates with respect to foreign or domestic policy. 'fuck the EU?' well, maybe the world has a big 'fuck-you' planned for the demons in DC...can't blame them.
interestingly, putin did pour tons of resources into securing the best minds and most advanced systems for russia's domestic security. sure, they don't have 7 carrier groups spread about the world's oceans, but they sure as shit can lay waste to just about any land-based invasion that creeps too far into poland. and on that note, i'm starting to suspect that it may've been someone other than putin that ordered the downing of that airliner in 2010, killing ALL of poland's high-command. i wonder what this newly elected twin brother of the past polish president thinks of the strange incident...i also find it interesting that his platform is nearly identical to putin's.
one final note: i've spoken with hundreds and hundreds of native 'russians' in the last few years...and i find it fascinating that, almost without exception, the opinion is divided sharply...but not according to ideology. hell, Message, i won't beat around the bush. almost every ethnic slav (even those here in the US) loves putin, and EVERY (not almost every...EVERY) 'russian' jew detests the guy. i find that to be very, very interesting.
do you? and if no, what kind of 'russian' are you?
janus
Did germans hated Hitler when he came to power?
But the way he got there and stayed there - it's very similar to criminal putin regime.
Majority russkies are victims of criminal putin regime porpaganda just like in USSR times:
https://youtu.be/o9gL8FR_vWQ
https://youtu.be/g5E_qMHTO0U
https://youtu.be/AKABlOs6DWY
https://youtu.be/S4-ve4xeVIg ENG subtitles
Trolls never listen they only post their daily quota of tirade and leave. Tyler needs to ban.his IP Address . He is such a whore for nato , got banned 7 times already.
I'm the kind of Russian that's always in a hurry!
Who dare to speak here against Putin? I didn't heard such think here very long time.
This voice is like critique of USSR inside USSR. They silenced all such voices.
On ZH are presented ONLY PUTIN POSITIVE articles. It's very very hard to find A SINGLE Putin NEGATIVE ONE. This site presents Russian media propaganda in English language.
Anybody could make its own statistic of articles on ZH.
My long term observation is that here are presented:
ONLY PUTIN POSITIVE articles (never negative)
ALMOST ONLY US/EU/WEST NEGATIVE articles
regarding China is a mixed bag: positive and negative info.
Big pity, the reader do NOT get here balanced information.
For this reason is REALLY NECESSARY to combine ZH propaganda with Western media propaganda and USE YOUR OWN BRAIN TO SORT info from both sides.
like the bakrupt USSA, why not just increase the debt to 25 trillion & then do all the ponzi shit that we do to - solved
Trump is driving the neocons crazy......I like that!
I hear Carson's the big guy now. The numbers changed radically over the weekend. Lucky for him (Carson) I suppose.
William Kristol is feeding Carson the Zionist Royal Jelly to turn him into the Republican Queen Bee.
my biggest hope for trump getting in office is that on day 1, he calls our creditors in & gives them a 1-time offer on a massive restructure. if they say no, straight-up default.
next, go to congress & tell them to add a balanced-budget ammendment to the constitution. if they say no, pull an obama & executive order it.
third, end the treasury auctions along with the fed. no more debt, ever, again. no matter what the circumstances are.
bottom-line, we as americans (not those who believe in common sense) have been proven not fit to be able to be responsible to take on any level of public debt. its gotten completely out of control. if individuals or hell, even states wanna run deficits, let 'um. at least people won't feel trapped because their neighbor wants to live off the golden goose while sitting home eating cheetos all day. if people wanna be dumb enough to lend to a california, so-be-it. the flip-side is that if i wanna move to florida, texas, or any other "red" state that is not upside down financially, i shouldn't feel that at some point down the line, the federal government is going to confiscate my $$$ in-order to bail out any 1 particular state or a group of states that comes crying to the federal government.
the more i think about what i just wrote, the more i feel its just a matter of time before the dems figure some way to bail-out puerto rico. no-way they are gonna let them go down the tubes on $70 billion in debt anytime before now & the next election. given the pardons bill clinton dolled-out in-order to lock-in his wife as senator of NY, theres no-way they are gonna pass at that low-hanging fruit. anything to secure a block of voters. even if it means fucking those of us who live fiscally responsibly.
The Russian Central Bank has been forced to raise its interest rates, so Russians find cheaper to borrow from foreign banks. That's the usual Trojan horse used by Western powers to grab the economy of a country.
So, if Russia defaults, it will be all on FOREIGN DEBT. It can sink the West.
Eat that, madafakas.
What bullshit propaganda is this? The Soviet Union defaulted in the late 80's!
The public debt:GDP in the Russia today is significantly better by comparison to the U.S.S.A.!!!!!
Yes,,, Russia paid off all the USSR debts several years ago.
Well, just look at the western economies and one can easily see that the best and the smartest are not exactly in control these days.
Loan me a hundred dollars and if I default,,, I'm in trouble.
Loan me a hundred million billion and then slap me around ,,, you are in deep shit.
Why don't they just get out it in the open that at the highest level they are all working together and the enemy the governments are trying to repress and kill off are the people.
Are they so afraid of the people?
Brilliant article.
Ruskies under criminal putin regime rule get only more poorer and poorer while putin regime elite enjoys western luxuries.
In this video material (and for those who understand Russian I can recommend to follow this account) it is informed that Russian babushkas are freezing in winter because they can’t afford firewood. So there are volunteers that give away free firewood to these people.
https://youtu.be/mQpSmiIckRU
That’s good. But this is not in this century for “superpower” like Russia that people receive pension 85 EUR a month! Yes you read that right! 85 EUR a month – not day, not week but 85 EUR a month! How can one live with such money? Well, they can’t so there are volunteers that give away free potato and free firewood. There millions of people who live such pathetic lives under criminal putin regime.
So few conclusions:
Russia is not a superpower if its citizens live such pathetic lives.
https://youtu.be/OscXu88aSXU
Russian live such pathetic lives because they live under criminal putin regime rule that steals away Russian money. They live under criminal putin regime rule because they are under putins propaganda spell. So they don’t stand up against it.
Here's an article about this:
RUSSIAN ELDERLY TO RECEIVE FIREWOOD VIA CROWDFUNDING, NOT GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIESStill, criminal putin regime steals money and spends on war in Syria. And that all to get away russkies attention from failed war in Ukraine.
Russia will still be better off than teh emerging Islamic EU. Thank Merkel and the USSA for the Islamic invasion of young and pissed off Islamic men.
So there is a charity in Russia that helps the old and ailing babooshkas at the countryside with firewood? Is this somehow supposed to be a bad thing? The guy in the video speaking in russian insists that this is the responsibility of the government to take care of these babooshkas. He, despite being young, seems to be living in some sort of socialist dellusion.
Is it ok that russian elderly people have to try to live with 85 EUR a month when criminal putin regime elite lives luxury life style? Is it ok to wage wars on neighboring countries and now in Syria when own people starve and freeze in cold winter? You tell me.
Peskov’s watch as a wake-up callImport replacement. Self-sufficiency. The classical Russian endurance to hardship. Spiritual values. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov doesn’t have time for any of these things. See all that patriotic bullshit is for ordinary Russians, not the elite. The elite gets to have weddings in an elite hotel where rooms start at $580 a night. The elite gets to wear watches worth over half a million dollars, in spite of their far lower official salary. The children of the elite, like Peskov’s daughter, prefer to live abroad, in the decadent West. It matches their lifestyle, after all.
In my early years in Russia this kind of thing wasn’t too shocking. I mean sure, the idea of a watch whose value could buy several decent houses in the US is by itself shocking, but in the glory days of Putin’s Russia, or better said the Golden Age of Medvedev the Great, such a watch would simply be a drop in a vast sea of conspicuous, dick-waving opulence. At the time I used to find the flaunting of such staggering income inequality to be highly offensive. If only I could have known what was coming.
In those days, the elite might have flaunted their power via yachts or diamond-encrusted skis, but they were so secure in their positions at the national trough that they didn’t care as to ordinary people’s reactions. Though the media was still largely controlled by Putin, the internet was practically liberated territory, and people spoke openly and freely about corruption. They didn’t necessarily do anything about it, but they at least felt totally free to express their opinions. To be honest they had good reasons- the glut of wealth from high oil prices and foreign investment meant that they too enjoyed a higher standard of living than they were used to, and thus it seemed like there was a sort of unspoken social contract between the government and the Russian people: “Don’t actually bother us or stand in our way, and you can do whatever you want, or whatever you can get away with.”
Now that situation has changed. While Putin displays a stunning lack of foresight and is clearly oblivious to material reality, his fire-from-the-hip actions in Ukraine have given him something he sorely needed- a seemingly real conflict with the West on which he can offload all the problems for which he or his system bear responsibility. Suddenly people who should know better have started mouthing the regime’s talking points, though they may be 180 degrees the opposite of what they said before. People started pretending like the things they constantly complained about every day for years just stopped. Patriotic propaganda, backed by threats both concrete and implicit, replaced the conspicuous consumerism of the previous years.
Peskov’s watch, at least for a moment, seemed like a dose of cold reality. Not only was it the talk of the Russian internet, but my students spontaneously brought it up in class yesterday evening. It’s really hard to pretend that Russia’s tormentor is the United States when the president’s personal secretary inexplicably possesses so much money to burn. It’s hard to pretend you’re happy limiting your vacations to Russia while the sons and daughters of the elite actually live in New York, Paris, London, or Brussels. Hypocrisy is tolerable when the hypocrites don’t demand your loyalty or submission, but now that’s exactly what’s happening.
None of this should be taken as a sign that mass unrest is spreading in Russia. For one thing, the country has a large elderly population, as well as a large population of middle-aged people who don’t see any change as possible and/or depend entirely on the state for their meager subsistence. These are the types of people who enthusiastically voice their support for Putin, shake their fist at the United States, fervently wish to see Russian armies openly invade Ukraine to drive out the “fascist junta” from Kyiv. They do not have male children of military age, they are ineligible to serve themselves, and they depend on the state, hence they are seemingly insulated from the consequences of these policies.
As a morbid consolation, these people are starting to feel the effect of inflation and cutbacks in medical care, meaning that privation, suffering, and even death might be the steep penalties these folks will have to pay for their refusal to stand up for their rights. Tragic, yes, but the price of such politics must ever be high, lest more people believe they can afford to indulge in them. So while these generations that support the status quo may be more numerous in number, they’re also the type of people most likely to drop like flies as the elite turn the screws of austerity ever tighter.
Where you might see a change is when the younger, internet savvy, more worldly generation starts watching their older relatives suffer and die due to healthcare cutbacks and low pensions unable to keep pace with the rate of inflation. These males are usually able to escape military service themselves, and I doubt that Russia will get so involved in Ukraine as to have dozens of dead and wounded streaming back into the country to create an Iraq War-style spectacle. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the barracks collapse in Omsk killed more Russian soldiers than a week’s worth of combat in the Donbas. On the other hand, virtually all of these younger people have older relatives.
It’s only a matter of time before people start making connections between the money that’s missing from healthcare, education, and infrastructure on one hand, and the massive in-your-face opulence of the elite. How much medicine could Peskov’s watch buy? How many apartments? How many hospitals could be built or at least upgraded for the cost of Yakunin’s massive palatial compound? What could Russia’s citizens have got for the $1.8 billion embezzled from Russia’s space program? And all the while, the recipients of these ill-gotten gains will be lecturing the people on patriotism, enforcing it with the power of the state.
These days anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism is like a veil that gives the appearance of some sort of national unity, but it is a thin veil nonetheless. I’ve seen that by spending a few minutes talking to the most vehement vatniks, they eventually drop the whole act and start complaining about the injustice and corruption they see in their country. Those who weren’t vatniks but adopted the lingo in 2014 do so even more readily. Whether they say it out loud or not, they know. Everyone knows. Russia’s bane isn’t the United States or NATO bases around its periphery. It’s what’s around Peskov’s wrist.
Vladimir Putin's spokesman honeymoons on board 'luxury yacht'Some people are rich, some people are poor. This is capitalism, baby.
By the way, 99% of eldery in Russia own property. They don't pay morgages. The pension they receive, however small it is, expended on food and basic needs like heating. The people living in cities don't need firewood, there is central heating and it's cheap. People living in small villages mostly use coal for heating. It's only the most poor that resort to firewood. There are not that many people that poor actually. And in any case the food in villages is very cheap.
So don't cry over the plight of Russian people. Nobody exactly freezing and starving there. Well, in the country of 144 mlns it is always possible to find a few very unfortunate. But don't make stuff up. These are exceptions. As a rule Russians are doing okay.
Crony capitalism :D
Russia Awards Lucrative Crimea Bridge Contract to Putin's CronyEverything you say about Russia directly correlates to the USSA, only the scenario in the USSA is worse.
The US politicans have legitimized/legalized/institutionalized (through sophistry including legislation and court precendents) a much higher degree of corruption than many other countries, and many of the US politicans are too psychopathic, or suffer from meglomania, or are too stupid/delusional to realize it or give a shit (after all, they benefit from it in some way).
Perhaps Russia is working out some major tactical and strategic challenges before all hell breaks loose and the SHTF in the west. It's not a seamless or smooth process and lots of other issues arise (often triggered by belligerents outside the Russian sphere of influence), but Putin is making progress.
Can't say the same of the USSA; a big hammer perpetually looking for nails to crush.
The IMF is loaning billions to Ukraine. In addition, NATO is spending billions in Ukraine on a war that has lasted longer than any US or NATO official expected.
War? LOL! To the credit of the majority of hapless male Ukrainians - they do not want to fight in the banksters war to murder their neighbors in Eastern Ukraine which is turning into NovoRussia.
The Ukraine no longer has an army. If Yats and Porky the dual shit-i-zens want to fire up another war then the DPR/LPR will tak ethe war all the way to Kiev.
Putin and Russia are being economically and militarily attacked by bankster IMF/BIS/NWO/ZATO scum. I am sure Putin realizes that a default may be as effective as a SS-18.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmuyxY5Ev54
Funny when you watch these Russian videos - that Russia is not a Trayvonized country like America where dumb white American males worship their Trayvon thug ball players.
"War? LOL! To the credit of the majority of hapless male Ukrainians - they do not want to fight in the banksters war to murder their neighbors in Eastern Ukraine which is turning into NovoRussia."
Update your self - putin troll... ha ha ha :D
Novorossiya project it is closed finally, the Ukrainian army without the Russian support is capable to destroy armed forces of fighters on Donbass in three days.
About it I declared the ex-the leader of fighters of "DNR" who ran away to the Russian Federation, Igor (Strelkov) Girkin.
According to Girkin, now Russia "conducts negotiations on that, "Novorossiya" with Ukraine was not and isn't present and the project is closed.
"Well and that that thousands of people were lost that hundreds of thousands became refugees…we closed the project", - he declared, "sounding" a position of the authorities of the Russian Federation.
"Now it is necessary to inflate information background, to displace attention, and with obvious jugglings…Here Russia couldn't feed 4.5 million residents of Donbass - they "it is unclear who, freeloaders"–not Russians, not Crimeans, not the Crimean Tatars…And here in Syria–yes–there Arabs, Sunnites, Druzes–they here urgently need in our support", - he added.
https://youtu.be/ALtmmIkx0rU
"This information bubble has to cover a real problem, a question that "The Russian spring"–"is merged", and now there is a technical coordination with Ukraine about transfer back to structure of Ukraine of "DNR" and "LPR" in structure of an autonomy, but thus Ukraine disagrees on the offered conditions–with an autonomy or federalization", - I noted ex-the leader of fighters.
Latvian troll, a.k.a. viedoklis_lv, a.k.a. freedom123, a.k.a. newsoutlet, a.k.a. message
+ 100 for that politically incorrect but nonetheless truthful last sentence.
Why didn't refugees from Ukraine go to Europe?
Doesn't Europe want Ukraine to be part of the EU? Isn't this supposedly why the whole Ukraine conflict started?
Europe does not want white Christian refugees. They just want Ukrianians to be cannon fodder. the more dead the better for them so the EU and zios can steal Ukrainian land.
Even though Russia has the money, if they don't pay back the debt then it screws a bunch of bankers and other enemies. It's a pretty good plan if nobody gets nuked.
Default crashes the Ruble and destroys their economy and their military
well, this article is very incomplete. The possibility of default was suggested by the Russian nationalist economist Glazyev, but he more importantly said that: Russia should first "take control of its central bank" and then default. Thats a big difference. The Russian Central Bank is still a Rotschild bank and I guess nationalizing it would mean declaring direct open war to the bankers - however, Russia is in hybrid war with them already! That is why Glazyev suggests this. And he suggests defaulting not only of the state debt (which is quite small) but - more importantly - of all Russian private companies as well. There has been already too many attacks on Russia. For example, recently banks in Switlzerland started to close accounts of all Russian clients. And there is a myriad of attacks like this. This is why Putin may eventually decide to use the default option. We shall see.
Cyprus was a Russian money grab, too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/business/international/russian-busines...
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/26/bff-why-russia-and-cyprus-are-getting-cos...
In particular, Ash believes that Russia was using its close ties with Cyrpus as a bargaining chip with the international community. "The message will be 'try more sanctions iterations at your peril, as you might see European unity torn apart as we will play the Hungarian, Cypriot and Greek cards at our pleasure,'" Ash warned.
well, this article is very incomplete. The possibility of default was suggested by the Russian nationalist economist Glazyev, but he more importantly said that: Russia should first "take control of its central bank" and then default. Thats a big difference. The Russian Central Bank is still a Rotschild bank and I guess nationalizing it would mean declaring direct open war to the bankers - however, Russia is in hybrid war with them already! That is why Glazyev suggests this. And he suggests defaulting not only of the state debt (which is quite small) but - more importantly - of all Russian private companies as well. There has been already too many attacks on Russia. For example, recently banks in Switlzerland started to close accounts of all Russian clients. And there is a myriad of attacks like this. This is why Putin may eventually decide to use the default option. We shall see.
Those who have the gold, make the rules.
Now,,, How much gold does the US have and when was it last audited?
They stole our money, our gold, our economy, our country.
Who are they? You guess.
Surprise, Putin is a moneychanger...
Recursion: Tautological Search & Rescue
Funny, when you begin with generalization and symptomatic specialization, and then focus toward communism and fascism; you are left with feminists and effeminate passive-aggressive males forming the consumer majority, with stupid reactionary males as the scapegoat, always with a queen walking through the wreckage to the throne, all assuming life. Blaming the bankers, for taking advantage of the resulting booms and bust in the volatility racket, to print, extract and sell derivative options on the labor of future children, is a waste of time. Turning the tables and leaving the critters to assume crucifixion was just an example, not a refutation, of nature.
Yes, I have said the same thing 600 times, for kids moving through every social event horizon. US Government is being kicked to the new world order, same as the old world order, communist curb, just as Hitler crossed Europe and Alexander the Continent, because no able male will defend it, because it is just the latest and most fashionable communist regime, and because its navy is a sunk cost., like Great Britain before her. And like Great Britain, she is an old sterile woman, living in the past, with nothing better to do than manipulate those stupid enough to enter her trap with no means of escape, the voluntary prisoners dilemma of communism and its beholden child, fascism.
Just because a group of Jews, or any other arbitrary artifice, is very good at banking is no reason to employ the others as human guinea pigs, much less assume that the results of that experimentation will bear fruit, as the foundation of healthcare in America. All communists eat your fruit, their fruit, your seed, and their seed, before killing each other. That’s History.
Nor is it fruitful to accept the empire’s definitions, for labor, communism or anything else. The universe is physics, separated only by the relativity of perception, a counterweight of counterweights. Humanity is only a monolith for the majority, always trying to twist individuality into a commune, which is a poor excuse for a community. In 5000 years, what has changed about communism, other than the words it uses to pretend it is something it is not, the dress on the a different frame?
Everything inconsistent with communism in the empire is considered an invective diatribe by the court of courtiers, always autologically trapped in prisoners dilemma, replicating stupid, willful ignorance. Of course they must ultimately resort to kidnapping your children as the foundation of their make-work infrastructure, always from and to nowhere. And no, I do not have patience for automatons kidnapping children for communist indoctrination with the excuse of an empire job, borrowing from the future to ingratiate themselves today.
Whether the Soviet Union lost, Russia won, or both are irrelevant depends upon when and how long you take the snapshot. Invest accordingly. Labor simply cannot afford to care if communists choose to kill each other over an artificial island. Whether chef, or chef of chefs, what ends up the table, meat or artificial meat, health or cancer, is a choice, and most choose the latter, over time. Don’t interfere with child birth and blame the victim, expecting a happy outcome, or not.
Even now, the communists are investigating where my ideas originate, in their own black hole, like Alice in Wonderland, first in extortion, and then in prosecution, repeating the cycle, all they know. Good luck with that. Everyone is better off dealing with Pollyanna, because the cliff is on the other side. It’s just the news, worth no more than 15 minutes of your time, when you have nothing better to do than watch a sh-show.
Huh?
The record demonstrates that I have spent no more than 10% of my time telling the communists why they always end up killing each other, on the odd chance that some of them would like to find something better to do with 90% of their time.
Why do European christians always end up killing each other, well outside the strictures of your "communist" evil?
I would suggest you might be hyperfocused on the wrong tree in this forest of violence, theft, and psychopathy.
communism is neither good nor evil, nor is it limited by artificial borders or definitions. What exactly is the difference between German and Russian Government behavior, other than time duration? Is Putin any less of a moneychanger? Are the individual Russian people all responsible for Putin's behavior? The arbitrary divide and conquor lines are nonsense. European Christians is an oxymoron.
Are you saying that Russian women were not duped by Family Law in the Soviet Union, or Chinese women, or...?
This article is funny.... USA is the basket case of the world... and you write this shit about Russia... losers.
Russia can... print.
back new bonds with gold...
print US dollars with North Korea
borrow worthless US T bills from China and pay off debt
seize all zio assets in Russia
Nobody cares about debt or default anymore. Everything will be bailed-out behind the scenes... borrow, borrow, borrow, spend, spend, spend, default, default, default, borrow, borrow, borrow... it's so easy, why didn't humanity think of this decades ago? I guess that's why Paul Krugman received a Nobel Prize.
BRICS need to issue Gold back premium bonds.... and they can SHOW US THE GOLD!!! With semi annual audits...
The west will have to follow... but CANNOT SHOW US THE GOLD!!! it will be the joke of the century and Bernie Madoff will laugh
Interest rates for BRICS - VERY LOW 1% or less... no risk...
interest rates for in USA and other bankrupt western nations - 25% per annum...
lent in non US dollars
Gold will spike as it is the new backer of debt... US dollar will not make even good toilet paper.. for heating only in wood stoves
Seriously, how long is it going to take for the migrant problem to destroy the EU? A migrant army is invading europe. An EU collapse will bring nationalists to power in europe.
Marie LePen will win in a landslide. When the EU collapses so will NATO.
America's neocon foreign policy will be castrated.
In your wet dream you stupid putin troll :D
There are about 503 000 000 people in EU. Even if all Syria would come to EU - that is nothing. But hey... stick to that USSR slogan that US, NATO will collapse any time now :D
Since then when you russkies screamed that - only thing that has collapsed is USSR, Russia, RUB, etc.
ha ha ha
Before the migrant problem became so critical, DWN was forecasting that Germany would be majority Muslim 2050. Now?
Unless the rest of Europe takes a stand against Merkel and the US, they will be fighting ISIS on home soil for the next 'I don't know how many' years.
And Ireland was slated to be majority Chinese - by then.
does anyone think that the european peoples want this?
so who is directing it?
You are the only stupid person here. I am an American, and a Libertarian, not a Russian troll you dumb moron. Our neocon foreign policy is destroying our country.
I am of Kuban Cossack (Russian) ancestry. You can shove your "message" up your own arse. I am not hiding like Latvians do using names like freedom123 and message. Latvia is a pimple on Russia's ass.
You are detached from all the european news. The nationalists are gaining steam and momentum. The migrants are not all from Syria.
You are russkie paid troll and ofcourse your account has not been blocked at putin regime propaganda asset ZH.
For others :D
Lonely Planet TOP 5
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/countries/5
It’s taken Latvia 25 years to shrug off the fetters of Communism, but this Baltic treasure looks ready to shine for its silver anniversary. The country is resuscitating ancient traditions, restoring crumbling castles and manor houses hidden in its pine forests, and transforming its once stodgy cuisine into cutting-edge New Nordic fare. Seductive Riga, meanwhile, has built on its reign as a European Capital of Culture with improved infrastructure and a round of renovations as its population continues to grow.
Come visit Latvia :D
You will have a great time
Alright that's it - I've had all I can take from you...
Latvia, sir, is like Glasgow with shittier bars, shittier food, and uglier women.
and that's all it is.
Well, people can watch those videos and judge by them self :D
And about women - you are dead wrong.
Latvia is rapidly depopulating, a country for old people. A realistic account of Latvia can be found here: http://michael-hudson.com/?s=latvia
VS
Russian GDP Plunges 4.6%will see how that will go :D
Yeah, but Latvia's GDP growth is entirely due to NATO troops buying penicillin after fucking Latvian meitenes...
Interesting article. But I feel like the author has a very western, pro bankster, view of the world dispite his saying he knows Russia.
Why would someone (Putin) who cares about Country to the exclusion of everything (except himself and his cronies) care about Western Banksters? It is naive to expect that person to care about Banksters or their loans. They are like utilities to that person.
They are trying to screw him, why would he not try and screw them?
The real question is why the USA does not take the same viewpoint as Russia towards the Banksters? The answer is obvious, the west is owned by Banksters.
Can Obama run the tab up to 25 trillion? Debt ceiling bloated to 19.6 tril with a good 14 months to go
Putin doesn't act rashly, so he will not default. That's something obama would do.
Putin has gone on record several times that his retaliation will be done smartly so as to hurt Russia's rivals but not Russia. And it's working out just that way. Why would Putin default when that would boomerang bigtime against Russia itself?
The author of this article is a moron.
There's a lot of American propaganda in this one for sure.With a directly competing economic system fully outside the Dollar,the recycling of U.S. dollars back home will diminish.There's nothing the U.S. can do except come up with a Pacific trade agreement that actually is a complete secret to taxpayers and even to all its politicians.This is what its all about around the globe.The continuation of U.S. hegemony but now its all ending.You can prolong the military global spending for a bit by financing with further deficits but sooner or later the U.S. Cities become so run down that even now the infrastructure is just third world standards.Remember it is not a monetary issue, the present economic problems within the U.S. are structural and demographic in nature.The NeoCons in control are blocking economic recovery hoping war can do it.It won't and its never worked, its a failing attitude.Their prison system won't do it for them either with the war on drugs.Its helping to bankrupt the nation.
I think Russia should only default on those countries that placed the illegal sanctions on them, if they have no other option but to default. And Putin should also move to bring Russian companies back from the EU tax havens. I don't understand why the Russians continue to tolerate it.
I mostly read Zerohedge for the cogent political stori so pardon my ignorance: Why doesn't PUtin nationalize the Central Bank?
dupe
Why doesn't Putin nationalize the Central Bank?
Because it is not that easy. To do that, he at least needs Russia to be completely ready economically, to have their own payment cards (MIR is in the making), their own payment system, Swift system, basically an entire new alternative financial system, because once he nationalizes that bank, bankers will cut Russia off the Western financial system completely.
Another worry is that this will anger the bankers too much and it will lead to WWIII. So far he has been able to evade WWIII. But as it is all escalating, it may happen eventually. His economic advisor Glazyev already proposed the nationalization of the Central Bank recently and his proposal is being considered by the Security Council of Russia (the major governmental decision-making body in Russia).
I mostly read Zerohedge for the cogent political stori so pardon my ignorance: Why doesn't PUtin nationalize the Central Bank?
I think any answer would verge on CrimeThink.
Well, Zimbabwe did not default, or?
Russia is on the same level, but hey, putin is Napoleon, unfortunately his pants are leaking. How a counbtry that successfully entered middle east and has grabbed land like there is no tomorrow and has 25% of Earth surface can default and be sooo f... poor? With such an amazing chess player as leader. Is it something wrong going on?
Still, no major success in Syria, ISIS is not bothered at all and actually exapended in the last weeks. Syrian army can not keep Aleppo and their tanks explode like baloons. WTFW§?? :))
How does the saying go? If a deadbeat owes you $100, they have a problem. If a deadbeat owes you $100 billion, YOU have a problem.
Strategic defaults being used as weapons. And here everyone thought the threat would be countries like China trying to cash in their worthless US Treasuries.
China will be the real ones that end up paying for it, more to the point, if the US does a strategic default...
War Crimes Committed By The Kiev Junta Regime, 4 Hours Of Bombing Civilian Areas ! Ceasefire Violation !
http://novorossia.today/war-crimes-committed-by-the-kiev-junta-regime-4-...
http://dnipress.com/en/posts/donetsk-defence-ministry-appeals-stop-usele...
I wonder if Uncle Scam has ordered their puppets in Kiev to provoke a larger Novorussian response so the corporate MSM can whine about "Russian aggression" {leaving out the shelling by Kiev - the very same trick the Israelis employ with their friends in the media}.
Odessa: A Fate Worse Than Death
"If you are under 21, do not read this. If you are over 21, you have a moral obligation to read this, and view the photos, to to look into the depths of human depravity, into the face of pure evil, to ponder it, to understand it, because if you do not understand it, you cannot fight it, and if you do not fight it, you cannot defeat it. And if we do not defeat it, it will defeat us…
When I was on my way to Donetsk, I stopped in Rostov for a few days. I became friends with Mikael, the owner of the hostel I stayed at. He was a big, tough guy, a real Russian badass, tall, bald and muscular. He was also a veteran of the Russian Army, and a combat veteran of both Chechen wars. When I told him I was going to Donbass to fight fascists, he said ” War is bad”, and he meant it. I replied “Fascism is worse than war”. The story I am writing today explains what I meant by that…"
http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/23/odessa-a-fate-worse-than-death/
RUS won't default. Their Debt to GDP is quite reasonable, they've diversified enough to weather any Petrol Px drop, and they've secured a massive Contract with CHN - who can always acquire more Petrol.
Too late for the PetroDollar Hegemony to crash RUS anymore.
Yup! Russia should point is finger directly at Obama, announce a default on all their external debt, and say "don't blame us, Obama made this happen".
-----
The hilarious fact is... everyone knows that's true.
Let me guess, this guy owns the 3x short russia etf.
My advice is that before declaring default, Russia should dispose of all US treasuries , becuz as a counter measure USA may block all Russian held US treasuries .
Russia's foreign debt is miniscule compared to Western nations. Not only that but Russia's foreign reserves are much greater, relatively speaking than Western nations.
Good gold projects could rise in the next few yearRussia makes too many mistakes. The biggest mistake is, that Russia did not really want to cooperate with Germany. Instead of developing Eastprussia ( as trading place ) with Germany and to promote the bartering, Putin continuous the senseless occupation of chechnya etc. And why they do not develop the goldproduction ? This could create a lot of Jobs and buying power in Russia. Good gold projects could rise in the next few years up to 1000 times. http://gebert-trade.weebly.com/the-biggest-opportunity-ever.html
Good gold projects could rise in the next few yearRussia makes too many mistakes. The biggest mistake is, that Russia did not really want to cooperate with Germany. Instead of developing Eastprussia ( as trading place ) with Germany and to promote the bartering, Putin continuous the senseless occupation of chechnya etc. And why they do not develop the goldproduction ? This could create a lot of Jobs and buying power in Russia. Good gold projects could rise in the next few years up to 1000 times. http://gebert-trade.weebly.com/the-biggest-opportunity-ever.html