https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/...-economic-strength-is-its-weak-spot-1.4811284
This is a good read anyway, but particularly for me as the more I’ve become interested (obsessed?) with renewable energies and the electrification of transport and how they would better the world, the more I feel one of the biggest benefits could be stemming the torrents of money we send to the likes of Russia and the Middle East for oil. We wouldn’t be under Putin’s thumb now, we wouldn’t be suffering blowback from interventions in the ME over oil and the peoples of Russia/ME might have democratic governments who would allow them live more normal prosperous lives.
The economic impact of this war in Ukraine will likely run to hundreds of billions, wars in the Middle East have cost trillions. How about we get off that merry-go-round and spend that kind of money on transitioning to renewable energies in a serious way before the next war?
Trade will have as much bearing as tanks on Ukraine’s endgame, and the West’s hand is weak
The entire western strategy against [broken link removed] is an economic one. The economic implications of the current conflict can be broken down into three broad areas.
The first concerns financial markets over the next few weeks and months, particularly commodity prices. In economics terms, Russia is a large petrol station, with a productive wheat farm attached to it. As well as being the second largest oil exporter in the world, Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter.
The second area that will be critical over the coming months is the extent to which economic and financial sanctions will deter Moscow. There are various types of restrictions, beginning with the mafia boss approach, where the West treats Putin like a mafia don and makes life uncomfortable for the Russian oligarchs whom he has fostered and who in turn bolster him.
The third economic area of concern will be the impact of this war on the entire global economy. Are we now hurtling towards a recession, as inflation rises and international demand slows, revealing the underlying fractures in the world economy, not least the huge build-up of debt in the West and China? Is Putin’s greatest weapon the very instrument that the West is hoping to use against him, namely the assumed strength of the western economy?
This is a good read anyway, but particularly for me as the more I’ve become interested (obsessed?) with renewable energies and the electrification of transport and how they would better the world, the more I feel one of the biggest benefits could be stemming the torrents of money we send to the likes of Russia and the Middle East for oil. We wouldn’t be under Putin’s thumb now, we wouldn’t be suffering blowback from interventions in the ME over oil and the peoples of Russia/ME might have democratic governments who would allow them live more normal prosperous lives.
The economic impact of this war in Ukraine will likely run to hundreds of billions, wars in the Middle East have cost trillions. How about we get off that merry-go-round and spend that kind of money on transitioning to renewable energies in a serious way before the next war?
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