• sparseMatrix
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        3 years ago

        It turns out such comparisons are much less meaningful when we don’t actually share an economy.

          • sparseMatrix
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            3 years ago

            No, I didn’t.

            It’s ok though, because I wasn’t really attempting to make a response to the article per se, so much as reacting to another example of a trope that was introduced by the MSM mere hours before the invasion began in earnest.

            FTR, I don’t think any of this can be taken entirely at face value, except perhaps for the suffering being inflicted on regular folk just trying to get along in their lives.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OP
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              3 years ago

              Once you read the article, you’ll learn that western economies are actually fairly tightly coupled to Russia’s economy.

              • sparseMatrix
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                3 years ago

                Actually, I will just shortly both so that I can get better informed, and so that I can engage you on the level, as it were :D

                Cheers

                • sparseMatrix
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                  3 years ago

                  Actually, once I did read the article I found it largely lacking in substance. The only assertion they tried even remotely to support involved rapeseed oil, a substance which human beings should consume under no circumstances.

                  Also, the article vacillates between ‘western democracies’ and ‘Europe’. Further, it anticipates that Russia will be in control of Ukraine’s resources, which is most of what is cited as the agricultural source of the commodities in question.

                  Finally, there is a gulf of distance, geopolitically, between ‘Europe’ and ‘western democracies’. While this is a tragic state of affairs, it is as such, and I can see that this could severely impact Europe, very much less so more outlying countries such as Australia, Canada, and the US.

                  No, now that I’ve read the article, it looks to be precisely what I called it out for, that is, a spot of economic propaganda.

  • sparseMatrix
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    3 years ago

    Up next: Russian invasion of Ukraine generates an infinitude of unlikely and improbable side effects.

    Ukraine is not the largest supplier of wheat in the world. They don’t call the US Midwest ‘the bread basket of the world’ for nothing.

    American gasoline does not come from the Ukraine; nor does it come from Russia. While the conflict would have a predictable impact on world gasoline supply overall, ours doesn’t come from there. A reasonable expectation would have gasoline prices moving up in response; gasoline sellers would have gasoline prices move up dramatically for any reason, and THAT is why gas prices are dramatically higher.

    Finally, if the US isn’t operating it’s own fabs (and we demonstrably aren’t) then supplies of palladium and neon should have no immediate impact on the US chip supply. Long term, perhaps; but the invasion is barely days old, no?

    We rapidly approach a time where there are no countries among oligarchs. What will they do for fun when counting money becomes boring?

  • sparseMatrix
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    3 years ago

    A WHOLE LOT of profiteering going on out there, I’ll say…