Comments by "William Masselink" (@williammasselink) on "Soviet Economist Leads the New u0026 Future Russia" video.

And in Putin's Russia, like USSR, television watches YOU.
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@peterpomialowski1838 In Putin's RF, interest rates are 16%, to keep inflation down, which is around 8%. So are Russians better or worse off since February, 2022?
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@Odessit657 Not saying that at all.
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gilman2056 I don't see that. According to Legatum Prosperity Index Russia ranks 77th out of 167 countries, or second lowest among upper middle income countries. That factors in such things as infrastructure, social capital, living conditions and healthcare. Where is all this money coming from for this "frantic pace"? 1/3 of the budget now goes for non-productive military spending from a paltry $2 trillion heavily sanctioned economy smaller than Italy's. (Compare to U.S. with 12% from a $28 trillion economy) This is sucking resources away from the productive economy and social spending. Sanctions fuel declining revenues, depreciating ruble, higher inflation, and 16% interest rates to counteract it. (They've just been extended) Sanctions don't just hurt oligarchs, but also the other 15,000 sanctioned entities and individuals in Russia. Putin promised the Russian people his "geo-political adventure" would not affect their daily lives. How did that work out? Don't see how ever tightening sanctions make the Russian people happy. It's great Russians are buying more Chinese EV's. But put it in perspective. Russia says 1.3 million cars will be sold in 2024. AUTOSTAT says just over one million per year through 2026. That's only around 15th in the world. Far less than comparable countries or even those with smaller populations. For example, Australians buy more cars than Russians. UK, France and Germany buy far more. Thank you for elaborating in English. My Russian is severely limited.
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@terjeoseberg990 I wondered that myself.
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@letsRegulateSociopaths Explain. Russian GDP is a paltry $2.25 trillion compared to U.S. $28 trillion. The size of Italy, not even, or New York state.
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Perfectly stated. Great analysis. Totally on point. Couldn't have said it better. I use the phrase "(ha ha) "election" myself.
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@beatonthedonis And where's this Eastern Bloc now? Oh. You did say former, didn't you?
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@peterpomialowski1838 Ah, but that's in a free enterprise economy. Not a corrupt, central planning top down dictatorship. And a sanctions-crippled, unsustainable w** economy with a collapsing near-worthless currency at that.
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@peterpomialowski1838 Uh-huh. And that's with a free-enterprise economy. Versus a corrupt dictatorship, highly centralized top-down economy sustained by government spending. Sanctions-crippled and with a collapsing near-worthless currency at that. An unsustainable bellum economy now taking up over one-third of revenues, or over 8% GDP going to non-productive military assets. Government spending way up, revenues way down, also due to sanctions. And a severe labor shortage due to Putin's ruinous policies and demographic decline, also a major driver of inflation. All this with no end in sight. Don't see the comparison here.
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@claudeforche1672 China's national debt is projected to be $26.5 trillion by 2029, so misery loves company.
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@Odessit657 I remember when it was $200 billion. We thought that was bad.
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@claudeforche1672 By 2029, China's national debt is projected to be $26.5 trillion. You know what they say. Misery loves company.
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@peterpomialowski1838 Russia has a sanctioned economy and a weak, collapsing currency. Plus they're tied down in Ukraine indefinitely, spending over 8% of their GDP, or plus 1/3 their national budget on Putin's folly. It'll take them a long time to rebuild their military and economy. And rebuild their own and Ukraine's infrastructure IF they "win". So they ain't gonna recover any time soon. Russian people will be much worse off the longer this goes on. He's literally mortgaging Russia's future.
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@peterpomialowski1838 But that wasn't with a sanctioned crippled economy and a collapsing currency, not to mention a severe labor shortage and the brain drain fleeing the country. Plus massive top-down government-driven non-productive massive military spending. At the expense of other sectors of what is a very modest economy. MUCH worse off.
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@claudeforche1672 China's will be $26.5 trillion by 2029. Misery loves company.
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@claudeforche1672 China's will be $26.5 trillion by 2029. We're in good company.
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gilman2056 Can't make it all out, but seems to be a reasonable comment.
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@claudeforche1672 China's will be $26.5 trillion by 2029.
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gilman2056 Stuff and nonsense. According to Legatum Prosperity Index, Ruasia ranks 77th out of 167 countries for infrastructure, or second lowest among upper middle countries. i.e. social capital 54th, living conditions 68th, healthcare 84th. 23% of Russians, 67% in the countryside, lack indoor plumbing. Where's the money coming from for this "frantic pace"? Russia's sanctioned economy is less than Italy's or around $2 trillion GDP (U.S. is $28 trillion). Of that over 8% or plus 1/3 of the national budget is now going to the "SMO". This is sucking resources out of the productive economy and social programs and is unsustainable. Sanctions fuel falling revenues, depreciating ruble, higher inflation, and 16% interest rates to counteract it. Which have just been extended. Nobody can afford to invest in anything. Except the government top-down military spending. How can ordinary Russians be happy about sanctions? Putin promised the "SMO" would not affect their daily lives. It affects not just oligarchs, but also 15,000 Russian entities and individuals. All well and good Russians are buying more Chinese EV's. Russia says car sales will be 1.3 million in 2024. AUTOSTAT says just over one million per year through 2026. That's only around 15th in the world. Much smaller countries with lesser populations buy more new cars than that, including even Australia. UK, France and Germany buy far more.
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@claudeforche1672 China's will be $26.5 trillion by 2029.
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gilman2056 Hello again. Legatum Institute is based in London but funded in Dubai. They have there own set of criteria by which they rate all 137 countries, not just Russia. You act as if they have a specific axe to grind just against Russia only because they're western based, so that automatically disqualifies them. All right, another source then with their set of criteria, U S. News. (You probably won't like them either) They rate Russia #25 in infrastructure and 37th in overall quality of life. That's 5 places higher than Israel and just above Poland. Which isn't bad considering 23% of Russians lack indoor plumbing, including 67% in the countryside. Russian standard of living is half that of the U.S., which again ain't too shabby considering it was 1/3 in Soviet times. At least the store shelves are fully stocked now. Competition and free enterprise are the lifeblood of commerce. U.S. is #2 in infrastructure and 5th in overall quality of life, by comparison. And that's from multiple sources. If I'm wrong, point out where and offer alternative sources. Don't think I'll be flying over Russia anytime soon.
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@victoriadedicova HOW can Russia be benefitting from sanctions internally? Does not compute or make the slightest sense. Where's all this money coming from for investing in local businesses? At 16% interest rates (which have just been extended) to control the now 8% inflationary pressure. Plus declining revenues, a severe labor shortage, notoriously weak currency and top-down government-driven military spending driving the economy. At the expense of bottom-up consumer spending. Even Australians buy more new cars than Russians with 1/5 the population. Russia is now spending over 1/3 of its budget, or plus 8% of its GDP on nonproductive military assets with no end in sight. At the expense of consumer goods and social programs. This is simply unsustainable in the long run. So again, where is all this money coming from to improve the local economy and quality of life? "Behavioral economics"? How about good ole monetary economics.
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@marcbahn5487 It's the Russian project in Ukraine that's doomed to failure so long as the west stays the course. And Putin knows this. In 2014 Putin said he could be in Kiev in 2 weeks if he wanted. Now he says "Of course this will be a long process". Russia's smallish, sanctioned economy and collapsing currency cannot sustain or withstand this indefinitely as revenues erode and military spending dramatically increases, and his National Wealth Fund runs dry. What he termed "Fortress Russia" to withstand the coming sanctions when he made his plans to conquer his neighbor back in 2014. (Mark says 2008) And he assumed a quick and easy "Special Military Operation" promising the Russian people it would not affect their daily lives. (Didn't even call it a u-no-wot). How did that work out?
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Except the weight of Russia's own built-in corruption and inefficiency. And sanctions working their magic. And Ukrainian drones. And stepped up U.S. and European aid. "For as long as it takes".
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@ftboomer1 Sanctions apply to all currencies, not just dollars. What is your source. Are sanctions working? Certainly! I'll just cover oil cap effectiveness as you specifically mentioned that. You're not looking at the complete picture. Price cap sanctions worked well in the first 8 months, decreasing Putin's oil tax revenue by 40% until he found ways to evade the price cap. HOWEVER, The G-7 price cap and sanctions have ALREADY increased Russia's costs to drill and and transport oil: 1. Putin has had to add 600 ocean tankers. 2. 3x distance to ship to China and India (at discounted prices) versus Europe. 3. Extra insurance costs. 4. Costs more to maintain oil fields with loss of western expertise and parts. 5. Price cap forced Putin to expand and modify his port capacity. All this imposes an additional cost of $37 per barrel to ship=loss of profit margin. According to Saudi Aramco, fiscal break-even for drilling Russian oil is $44, twice that of other major producers, again largely due to sanctions. So it costs RF $44 to drill and another $36 to get it to market. And they still trade at a discount. They need $80 plus per barrel. Now there are new U.S. and EU sanctions. Indian oil companies are refusing Russian oil from Russian ships and Indian purchases are down 35% in January. Chinese banks are now delaying payments going through meticulous checks to comply, or refusing to deal with sanctioned Russian entities out of concern for secondary sanctions. Other countries are also starting to cooperate. Even Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, former Soviet republics, have agreed to enforce sanctions on Russia. Deputy Prime Minister (and oil czar) Alexander Novak told reporters in Moscow that Russian prices have seen bigger reductions relative to global prices since the most recent sanctions packages were brought into effect at the end of last year, according to TASS. "The current spike (in the discounts on Russian oil) is associated with the sanctions package that came out at the end of the year" Novak said. The goal of price cap sanctions was to reduce Putin's military chest without affecting global supply. I submit this has been highly successful. Likewise, the "magic" of other sanctions have worked similarly as well on the rest of the Russian economy. And well Putin knows it. He just appointed an economist as his new defense minister.
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