Hearted Youtube comments on Econ Lessons (@EconLessons) channel.

  1. My wife is russian. She owns part of a flat in a Brezhnevanka - a 9-storey block bullt during the Brezhnev era. The building looks solid enough, but is quite dilapidated. In a western country this block would be torn down I think. The maintenance lag in Russia is huge. And where are they going to get the people to do all that work? They die in Ukraine or the lucky and smart ones flee.
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  2. I traveled in May 1998 for the first time with humanitarian aid by car from Germany across Poland to the the Polish border city of Tiraspol to enter Belarus. At this time everything looked very bleak, the villages the houses the roads, the horses pulling trailer even at the remaining of the Hitler Autobahn. In the meantime I traveled up to 2019 almost every year either to enter the border crossing in L'viv or Tiraspol. The development which Poland has taken in this time is breath taking. Of course Poland benefited from generous infrastructure money from the EU. Nevertheless their roads and infrastructure out beat now Germany in every respect. This also tells me that every money for projects was allocated in full and did NOT disappear in corruption. Poland is for me a shining example for the world what good government can accomplish!
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  3. impressive noise reduction, great audio! thank you for the effort. avaa
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  4. This is gripping stuff , can't wait for the next update, if you can avoid capture.
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  5. Russia is being crushed for cheep. Unfortunately the real price is Ukrainian blood.
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  6. I enjoy how you tie in the academic world with real world life. Thank you Mark.
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  7. Neutral People always side with the aggressor . No excuse for not voting in a Democracy
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  8. Agree, and also what about the population that was forced to leave the country, or those still in Ukraine forced out of the stolen land and illegally annexed, will they be allowed to return to vote. I sincerely hope the UK and the EU are telling Trump to back off this idea or walk away from negotiations and we, combined with all our true allies against malevolence, will fight the evil Russians until they themselves see the wisdom of leaving Ukraine for their own good
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  9. I would love a video on Canada joining the EU, Mark. Thanks for the lessons and please keep 'em coming.
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  10. Hi Professor: I dont disagree with your Smith argument in principle, but I think there is something else at play than the strict economy. If trade is allowed to be completely free, and if one side becomes so efficient that it dominates the other(s) in a particular economic area (for example electronics) such that there are no electronics being exported from the the other country(s) (say USA), then that presents a vulnerability wherein if the dominating country (say China) decides to invoke hostilities, then the subordinate country is at their mercy with respect to the economics of electronics (in this example). Therefore the subordinate country (USA) here would not be able to conduct defense due to not having any electronics capability for defense systems. What this means is that there is a price for purely following Adam Smith, and that price could be our treasured freedom. We MUST retain organic capabilities to be able to provide the materials and the technologies and industrial capacity and the associated know how to be independent if the need arrises for national defense (and maybe other reasons too). So, although I might tip my hat to Adam on economics, the world is not 100% economics. There is at least national security and homeland defense, and likely other interests which run afoul of Adam in the larger scheme of things. I think when you consider these other factors, tariffs can make a whole lot of sense. That said, I think historically tariffs don't work well on the whole or over the long run. BUT in some dialog from Trump not too long ago, he advocated NOT using tariffs for long term application, but rather as short term pressure to get concessions he wants. For example to get China to implement intellectual property protection. And then the tariffs would come off. I dislike the idea of him taking Russia's tariffs (sanctions) off, but maybe he will surprise us there. Anyhow, I just wanted to point out that the world is a bit more of a complicated place these days than what Adam Smith might have imagined. Im not saying he is not right in principle, but principle has a nasty habit of getting entangles in the details of reality. Great Video!
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  11. If Trump Drill Drill oil ๐Ÿ˜ฎ The price of oil will go down And Russia will lose on oil price FURTHER MORE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE FOR RUSSIA ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚ Feel sorry for the Russian people who are brain Washed and donโ€™t know anything Else God Bless Poland ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ and Ukraine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Have a wonderful weekend and a peaceful weekend Take care Mark Ron uk ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ
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  12. When you say it's an allocation problem, I keep thinking China is having this problem, too.
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  13. You make a very good point Mark. If I had say $100k to invest there is no rate of interest that would entice me to invest in anything denominated in rubles.
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  14. I pray your right.
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  15. As an economist, you should do a video about things that need to be fulfilled for the collapse of the Russian economy.
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  16. Mark Iโ€™m not religious, however I still like your message! ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
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  17. Iโ€™ve been warning people that Ukraine has the capability to build nuclear weapons and long range missiles. I donโ€™t know that theyโ€™ve been doing the research, but the basics were worked out in the 1940s using slide rules. Ukraine has access to supercomputers. Something to think on.
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  18. You are very welcome in the Baltics and the region, you're a friend, we all support Ukraine. We love Poland. Bless all our American friends. ๐ŸŽ‰โค
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  19. Good to see you again, Mark.
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  20. Any invading country that calls for negotiations is losing.
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  21. I can also add the Swedish conquest of Moscow in 1610 where the Russians were forced to accept a Swedish King as the new ruler of their country. But since Gustavus Adolphus younger brother was only something like 8 years old did his mother protest much and refused to let him go to Russia to become King there. So negotiations got drawn out, and the tide of war shifted and Sweden was attacked from Denmark. So Sweden had to give up some of its peace demands. But Sweden never the less won the war. And Karelia and Ingria fell into Swedish hands and Russia lost all its access to the Baltic sea with the peace in Stolbova in 1617.
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  22. It frustrates me that this is something that needs explaining. But I am grateful that you do
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  23. The fact that Russia's interest rate is at 16 % and the ruble is still falling or not at least improving at all tells you all you need to know about how good the economy is in Russia. FULL STOP.
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  24. In the recent election, VV Putin received 88% of the vote (more 4s!) . . . So, of course, any numbers thrown off by those associated with the Russian government are simply too difficult to believe. Russia functions like Oz: There is always someone manipulating things behind the curtain, to give the illusion that everything is okay. Keep up the good work, Mark! In the end, I pray your insights will ring true. And Good will prevail over pure Evil. -Chris
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  25. I agree 100%. Note that US rebelled against UK over a tea tax. Ukraine suffered, much, much more under Moscow rule.
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  26. Excellent video. This is a topic that is largely ignored by the media since it requires more than a few minutes of explanation.
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  27. Your unique way of weaving morality and economic good is priceless.
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  28. Thank you, Mark. Slava Ukraini ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿ’™ ๐Ÿ’›
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  29. I see rubbles everywhere in my bathroom, it's called toilet paper.
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  30. It will be difficult for Russia to reinvent their economy. The oligarchs will not allow themselves to be cut out.
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  31. Thank you, Mark, for your steadfast support of Ukraine. Three more days to the US election deadline, with the future of the West at stake. Hopefully Kamala Harris will emerge as the first female US president, a woman with stamina and courage. She will support Ukraine and put an end to the Kremlin circus. Slava Ukraini!
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  32. The Russian population of a 145 million generates a GDP only slightly larger than Australia's 26 million. In trying to protect their Russian market these companies are risking far larger markets.
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  33. Mark fast becoming one of my favourite bloggers, yeah.join and make the world a better place ๐Ÿ’“
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  34. True story. In the 1990s, the Polish Mafia (the Woล‚omin gang) obtained 5 tons of paper from Germany, the same as Russia used to print rubles. After crossing the German-Polish border, the cargo was taken over by the Polish UOP (State Protection Office) services. They managed to recover 3.7 tons but 1.3 disappeared. The services said that printing rubles from five tons of paper could lead to the collapse of the Russian economy.
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  35. All I see from the US is measures that fall far short, transactional messaging, self interest, no sign of "the big stick", and an absence of understanding of the current Russian state's neo-imperial ambitions for its neighbors. It's a different world here in the Baltics, our Nordic allies also know what's really at stake. Greetings from Estonia.
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  36. 21 percent interest rate set by the Russian Central Bank yesterday, up from 19 percent only one month ago. The economy is overheating faster and faster. All the interest rate rises can't fix it either, only slightly slow it. It's not consumer borrowing that's driving inflation, it's government spending on the war. Until that halts inflation will stay high. Another six months of this and the economy will be in meltdown. No capital, no borrowing: nobody can buy a house, a car or start a business.
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  37. Modo would sell his mom if he thought she could turn a profit for him. He's as two-faced as they come.
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  38. Most of the TV pundit (or youtube ones for that matter) analysis of economic issues is simplistic at best. Thanks for crunching the numbers here. Reagan and his predecessors bankrupted the Soviet Union with a cold war and a space race over 20 years - Putin is doing it single handed with a special military operation over 3 (and with some help from some very brave Ukrainians)
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  39. I've been to Russia, not Poland but, I agree on what you say about Russia.
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  40. Folks, oil production isn't targetted, it is its refinement and that is mostly for the domestic production. Pootin still can sell his low quality Ural oil, and he does. Less of it, but it didn't mess up with global prices as much. Don't mix the production of oil with the capacity to refine it.
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  41. Thank you! I am also given to Ukraine all I can. GOD BLESS YOU!
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  42. Thank you so much economist Mark or your faith I too believe that Crimea will be liberated.
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  43. Yeah India had a deep love of the Soviet Union and I'm sure the Soviet Union made a huge long effort to get India aligned with them.
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  44. Agree, no negotiation. ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ.
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  45. This channel deserves a bigger audience please promote people
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  46. What arises out of Russia's ashes? Certainly not a phoenix.
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  47. Thank you for continuing to think through issues and do the number crunching for data analysis
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  48. Finding it a wee bit stressful tbh, more so on behalf of Ukrainians and all the Americans who didn't vote for being Russians.
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  49. Mark you just got mentioned on `INSIDE RUSSIA`s` live chat Konstantin replied your a great guy, the chat agreed๐Ÿ’ฏ ๐Ÿค—
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  50. Interessting. Konstantin from "Inside Russia" says the same and he has studied economy in Russia and the USA. Thank you Mark.
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