Also, I've been fighting twitter trolls who apparently can't quite get that free speech means "you can say what you want" and not "if you don't say things are are unabashedly pro-Russia and anti-Western you are some kind of Nazi and we will track you down at your employer and spam everyone you work with." I think that's the price of fame these days, and I'm not even famous. Russia is a funny place sometimes, but the internet remains the last bastion of nutjobs, wingnuts, trolls, and Stalinist loonies. Either way, enjoy my commentary!
It's been tough to keep up the blog when everything is going kablowey in Ukraine. but yesterday's crash in Russian markets meant I had to give a lot of commentary on the fly. For your edification, you can check me out here on RT talking about "Black Monday" and here on Dukascopy Swiss Financial TV talking about the same thing (slanted a bit more heavily to interest rates).
Also, I've been fighting twitter trolls who apparently can't quite get that free speech means "you can say what you want" and not "if you don't say things are are unabashedly pro-Russia and anti-Western you are some kind of Nazi and we will track you down at your employer and spam everyone you work with." I think that's the price of fame these days, and I'm not even famous. Russia is a funny place sometimes, but the internet remains the last bastion of nutjobs, wingnuts, trolls, and Stalinist loonies. Either way, enjoy my commentary!
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Courtesy of Ukraine, which has not just gone off the deep end but is actively attempting to become the poorest nation in Europe, a list of how to completely and utterly botch an economic transition:
Sounds like a perfect recipe, one that Ukraine is following to the letter. Ukraine - the country of the future. Here at IEMS, it's been a hectic day. Apparently all of Russia wants to know about the coming collapse of America and the whole debt battle/government shutdown/dogs and cats living together malarkey that's still ongoing in the US. I gave a short talk to slon.ru (link up when available), my colleague Bill Wilson gave a talk on RT, and both of us have contributed to another online Russian publication. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Russians are eating this up, mainly because the US looks like a big dysfunctional Taiwan (you know, without the stellar growth rates). Of course, as noted on these pages and elsewhere, Russia has nothing to be proud of: onerous bureaucracy, resource dependency, an aging population, and a political culture just above "caveman" leap immediately to mind. But Schadenfreude is powerful in this one.
Oh, and to not give too much away, my own predictions for the rest of the "political crisis" in the US: 1. The Republicans will cave (as usual) 2. Any short-term turmoil will be swamped by the reality of perpetual deficits and an ever-more intrusive state in the long-run 3. Any problems that come from this ever-intrusive state will be blamed on the market. And Republicans. But not for caving. 4. Actually, it's all the fault of the Republicans. Thank you, media! I guess the key takeaway is EVERYBODY PANIC! (just kidding. For the short-term, anyway). |
AuthorDr. Christopher Hartwell is an institutional economist and President of CASE Warsaw. All commentary on this page is exclusively his own and in no way represents the views of CASE, his wife, his dog, or anyone else. Especially not his wife or his dog. Archives
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