The World Bank reports that Iran’s economy has actually shown a lot more grit and variety than the skeptics expected, posting a 2.4 percent growth rate during 2020-21, with projections suggesting it could hit 3.1 percent in 2021-22.
Assumptions are the mothers of all massive screw-ups.
One of President Trump’s most prominent policy actions in office was to raise tariffs, which significantly harm the U.S. economy. trade barriers such as tariffs increase the cost of both Consumer and producer goods and depress The economic benefits of Competition , inhibiting economic growth. Research suggests that the president’s tariffs have been directly responsible for reducing both imports and exports, raising prices, and reducing national welfare. Research also suggests that the entire cost of the tariffs has been borne by U.S. importers.[1]
Russia’s oil revenues are up 50% this year even as trade restrictions following the invasion of Ukraine spurred many refiners to shun its supplies, the International Energy Agency said.
Moscow earned roughly $20 billion each month in 2022 from combined sales of crude and products amounting to about 8 million barrels a day, the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly market report.
That little Moscow gnome is basically using US dollars as toilet paper.
So, it turns out Gazprom didn't actually move that gas from Slovakia after all. Apparently, Gazprombank is going to handle the conversion just like the Muscovite ordered. 🤣
And what are the actual odds that some Russian guy with a few rubles in his pocket can just walk into a bank in Moscow and actually buy dollars at that rate? Is the chance zero, or is it basically absolute zero? 😁
Honestly, I couldn't care less about the Russians. The only time I ever had anything good to say about them was back in 2006 when they were over here on the coast spending money like there was no tomorrow.
The C-section crowd from big tech corporations and politicians tend to view economic relations through a completely different lens. Honestly, Tim Cook seems to have much better rapport with his friends in China than Biden does.
We’ll only be able to economically isolate China once we move away from being such a consumerist society—until then, there really isn't an alternative. If anyone actually thinks India is going to make any significant strides in the next ten years, they are in for a massive disappointment; that country is riddled with corruption, and the level of brain drain they're dealing with is just devastating.
Is that what they call a total embargo—when Shell suddenly stops taking 49% of their Ural supply just to slap a "Made in the US" sticker on it instead? 🤣
Good grief, I just can't wrap my head around how they expect to fight any kind of war—even if Europe were to start pumping an extra $10 billion a day their way—when their military expertise is being absolutely shredded by the "experts" over on the forums.
The Russian oligarchs are living on bread and water while the soldiers can barely afford socks. They’ve got more dead generals than living ones, and even a bit of rain seems to wreck their entire strategy, yet everyone is still talking about this massive offensive toward Chisinau. What are they going to use to win? Stones and pitchforks? 🙏
Brenda Murphy3 said:Man, seriously... you and people like you are basically perfect case studies for some kind of psychological deep dive.
Alright, let’s say you actually have a point—but please, walk me through why you’re even getting a kick out of this? Why would anyone living in the States or the EU care enough about these issues to side with Russia or cheer when the European Union hits a rough patch? Do you just genuinely love Russia and their whole worldview? Or is it more like you just can't stand the EU and the West, so that's what drives you? What's the actual deal with you? What's the underlying motivation that makes you look at the world through such a weird lens? 🤔
Hold on now—you really think you can build an entire psychological profile of me based on one single piece of information? You should honestly go apply for a job with the Department of Justice cybercrime unit; they could always use talents like yours. 🙏🙏
The Kurds tried to get a head start on planning gas exports into Europe, and then—boom—the Iranians decide to launch a few missiles right at the house where all that was being organized. So much for "rapid diversification." 🤣
slyfox43 said:Classic troll behavior: obsessing over a single triviality while completely ignoring the actual core of the issue.
As if all you need to manufacture vaccines is some IP—you could practically whip that up in a home kitchen. And I suppose those hundreds of millions of donated doses were just swept under the rug.
Look, XI's brother donated a literal gazillion doses too, so what? Neither he nor Berlin's little friend offered any real solution to the demands from South Africa regarding IP waivers so they could actually start local production. It’s not like South Africa is some tiny backwater village without basic infrastructure; they have plenty of people, including many who look just like us.☕
Ronald Chavez2 said:Those fairy tales will evaporate pretty quickly once the Department of Energy takes the lead—one cloudy afternoon and the whole illusion just falls apart, won't it?
There isn't a single thing money printing can fix here. For instance, they could just churn out 700 billion dollars for electrolysis projects and hydrogen fueling stations on offshore wind platforms. Then, they’ll likely print another few hundred billion to handle the hydrogen transport, plus several more billions for training the workforce needed to maintain all this stuff, and so on.
Just remember, New York City can print away all your current problems and simply pass the bill onto your grandchildren. 😁
hollowdriver13 said:Companies like ExxonMobil aren't going anywhere even after this so-called decarbonization phase, so fossil fuel trading will always be a thing. The actual goal here is to kill off fossil fuel consumption in consumer transport and power generation.
That’s the "plan," sure, but it makes me wonder—how many lithium mines actually exist in the European Union right now? 😁
Michael Ortiz68 said:There's no such thing as "doing nothing"... decarbonization is baked into every single strategy and roadmap they have. This isn't changing direction; it's just shifting from second gear into sixth.
And honestly, why on earth would Qatar be dumping massive amounts of capital into carbon capture infrastructure if that were the case? This whole setup is way too complex for them to just guess the outcome. I mean, I simply don't see how the Gulf states are going to play nice and let Europe continue its pivot toward decarbonization. Plus, the democracies are eventually going to hit a wall—they'll have to sell their voters on some massive, embarrassing delay regarding those CO2 reduction targets. Because let's face it, if they start building up new industrial plants in the USA, all they're doing is pumping even more of those molecules into the atmosphere.
My take? The European Union is going to squeeze every last cent out of us to cover these costs, leaving our grandkids to deal with a totally stagnant, "Japanified" economy. They can deal with the mess later. ☕
I don’t know, I’m just not convinced yet that Europe can pull off a total 180-degree pivot in certain sectors after decades of basically sitting on its hands.
Honestly, though, I actually find this whole situation somewhat refreshing. It’s usually only when things get really intense that people finally start streamlining their processes. Maybe now, instead of obsessing over whether an athlete with a whale can share a pool with other women at a competition, we can finally have some actual conversations about how to tighten up operations at work. ☕