Today in "Crisis" we see a massive drop in the Russian ruble instigating a jump in interest rates.
A post from March predicted that the situation in Crimea and the Ukraine wouldn't be a major part of the United States crisis. It's working out that way, although there is room for disagreement on why. Making the same mistakes? Underestimating economic sanctions? Overestimating the lessons of history?
In any case, NATO hasn't become involved - and hasn't needed to. Several times this year Putin has had military advantages that were beaten down by financial realities. While Ukraine isn't necessarily better off, the United States and the rest of the world would seem to be.
And all of this seems to be yet another advantage of cheap oil. Even if Wall Street can't seem to decide whether it's good for the economy or not, it's clearly not good for Russia, and seems to be reducing their ability to cause mischief.
Is it good overall? Signs point to yes, but we'll see.
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