19 Comments
Aug 13Liked by Joseph Politano

Thanks for this amazing article Joseph !

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Aug 16Liked by Joseph Politano

I am very impressed with the facts and analysis contained in this report. This what I don't see in the L.A. Times.

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Aug 16Liked by Joseph Politano

Very cogent and informative piece.

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Thank you for this informative read!

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Aug 13Liked by Joseph Politano

In any case, projections from the International Monetary Fund estimate a decrease in the Russian GDP by 153 billion dollars in 2023 compared to 2022, which if I'm not mistaken is equivalent (more or less) to the entire GDP of Ukraine from last year.

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Isn't the rise in the price of imported cars by 60 % the result of the ruble weakening against the dollar plus sanctions against buying cars and not a reflection of the manufacturing capabilities of Russian industries

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Great article Joseph. Sad to hear that China has so effectively thwarted Western sanctions to support Russian aggression in this terrible Ukranian war. Too bad we do not have the means to blockade Chinese imports to ourselves. Everyone is forced to speak out of both sides of their mouth!

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"In documents seen by Reuters, Russia now expects to spend more than $100B on the war throughout this year—for context, that would be roughly 5% of GDP spent on the military. Meanwhile, Allied countries have been able to mobilize roughly $90B in direct military equipment assistance alone—at a time when Russia’s government budget deficit is at some of the highest levels since the turn of the century."

There's a serious problem with this line of reasoning. Russia does not purchase Leopards and GMLRS rockets to equip its own forces. It purchases domestically manufactured munitions and equipment. Comparing dollar figures is simply not a fair comparison since the equivalent Russian amount buys larger quantities of material.

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"To the extent you can trust Russian data"...

What can be the credibility of data from a government that censors anything it dislikes, even the word "war"?

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Removed (Banned)Aug 13
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