Storm In A BVI Teacup

This about Society, tagged , , , was written by for on April 17, 2013 .2 Comments

If you remember a couple of weeks ago, the Internet was rocked – for a total of about one or two days – by a wave of leaks from the ICIJ about the identities of offshore account holders in the British Virgin Islands. What juicy revelations did we have about the henchmen of the kleptocratic Putin regime? […]

Explaining Russia’s Economic Slowdown

This about Economy, tagged , , was written by for on April 1, 2013 .15 Comments

The Russian economy is steadily converging on stagnation in the past few months. For real, this time. Businesses are becoming more pessimistic, and industrial production in the first two months of this year is 1.5% lower than for the corresponding period last year. What explains this? Alexander Mercouris explains: Might this not be a good […]

On The Cyprus Deal

This about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on March 26, 2013 .14 Comments

As a Greek with contacts in Cyprus, his opinion is one of the most valuable ones out there. Here it is: We have now the latest bailout plan and contrary to the spin in parts of the western media it is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the plan we saw last week. What was utterly outrageous about […]

The Western Media’s War Against Cyprus And Russia

This about Economy, tagged , , , , , , was written by for on March 21, 2013 .42 Comments

If you ever manage to get a troupe as diverse as Latynina, Mark Adomanis, the Cypriot Communist Party, virtually every financial analyst, Prokhorov, and Putin united in condemning your crass stupidity and cack-handedness, it’s probably time to stop and ponder. But it’s safe to say that’s not what the Troika – the European Commission, European Central Bank, and IMF […]

Blast From The Past: What Jim Rogers Said About Russia In 2003

This about Economy, tagged , , , , was written by for on September 21, 2012 .4 Comments

This guy isn’t as clear-headed as Eric Kraus, is he? But does have company in the form of Andrew Miller, Jeffrey Tailer, “Streetwise Professor”, and Ed Lucas. H/t Mark Adomanis. —– Original Message —–  From: Dmitry Alimov  To: [email protected]  Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 11:28 PM  Subject: Conversation with Jim Rogers – HILARIOUS Jim Rogers, a famous international investor […]

The Race To Collapse

This about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on November 25, 2011 .79 Comments

As readers of this blog know, I have long regarded the return of economic crisis as an inevitability (because the core energy and no-growth predicament facing the Western world wasn’t solved in 2008-9 but merely kicked further down the road by increasing debt and printing money). It looks like 2012 will be the crunch year, as […]

Open Thread: The US Debt Crisis

This about Economy, tagged , , was written by for on July 30, 2011 .48 Comments

As with the previous such post, this thread will primarily serve as a meeting ground where S/O readers can discuss the impending US fiscal crisis. As usual, I try to provide some context and avenues for discussion: 1. On August 2nd, give or take a few days, the US Treasury will run out of money. […]

OPEN DISCUSSION: Russia’s Economy In The Next Global Crisis

This about Economy, tagged , , was written by for on July 16, 2011 .24 Comments

The response to the last global crisis only consisted of kicking the can further down the road, and the chickens are showing signs of coming home to roost. Of particular note: (1) the recent upwards spike on bond yields for Italy and Spain*; (2) The political paralysis in the US that may (conceivably, if unlikely) […]

Some Updates on Russia’s Economy

This about Economy, tagged , , was written by for on July 5, 2010 .8 Comments

There is a wide divergence of views on Russia’s economic future. The pessimists project near zero growth (e.g. SWP, Guriev & Zhuravskaya), or even a renewed collapse if Europe goes haywire. The inventor of the BRIC’s concept (and Russia bull) Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs believes it will manage to eke out growth of 7%, […]

Decoupling from the Unwinding

This about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on March 28, 2009 .17 Comments

Three months ago I wrote an extensive analysis of Russia’s economy during the crisis in which I said that although it is going to be damaged by the shutdown of its traditional financing mechanism – cheap credit from the West – sovereign solvency will not be threatened and there will be a strong recovery in […]

Russia Economic Crisis III: On the Importance of Self-Sufficiency in Liquids

This about Economy, tagged , , , , , was written by for on December 7, 2008 .4 Comments

In this essay, I analyze three major areas of concern about the current Russian economy – the debt burden, balance of payments and future fiscal sustainability. Although on paper Russia is comfortably solvent, rolling over debt has been problematic for Russia Inc. because of the shutdown of its traditional financing mechanisms, cheap American credit and […]

Russia Economy Crisis II: Anatomy of the Crisis

This about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on December 4, 2008 .1 Comment

As promised in the last post, here is a follow-up about Part II of the 17th World Bank Russia report, the reading of which cannot be stressed as too important in the current climate. Like in the last post, I summarize the main reports, using a lot of unattributed straight-out quoting of salient phrases and […]