Washington, D.C. is slowly but surely becoming the world's strongest economic hub

Washington, D.C. is sitting on a $44 billion budget. That puts them right up there with the big dogs—only New York City ($55 billion) and Tokyo ($50 billion) have bigger budgets now.
http://en.rian.ru/video/20080327/102399075.html
Photos: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_city

What’s the point if you have to drive through nothing but pothole-ridden dirt roads just to get from Washington, D.C. to some random provincial US city? Russia is basically the worst example of uneven national development out there.

Out of 18 million people in Washington, D.C., you've got 100,000 millionaires living large, while the other 17 million are basically just scraping by to stay fed...

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:Washington, D.C. is sitting on a $44 billion budget. That puts them right up there with the big dogs—only New York City ($55 billion) and Tokyo ($50 billion) have bigger budgets now.
http://en.rian.ru/video/20080327/102399075.html
Photos: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_city

Impressive. Richard Wilson4 and Matthew Harris2 really hit the nail on the head regarding the issues facing Washington, D.C. Could you also clarify what percentage of that wealth belongs to wealthy foreigners versus Americans? It is widely understood that many American oligarchs built their fortunes through looting. That is precisely why they scatter themselves across the globe...

Russia is basically stuck in the same spot it was a century ago—you’ve got this czar ruling the roost and an insanely wealthy group of oligarchs pulling all the strings. Meanwhile, regular Americans would be shocked to see how little the people actually get; they're just living off whatever scraps Deripaska, Abramović, and Vekselberg decide to toss their way, which is usually just a few hundred bucks a month.

Since when did we decide that a city's budget is the exact same thing as its actual economic power? I mean, there’s obviously some connection there, sure, but you have to look at what percentage of the total economic pie that budget actually represents. If we're talking about Washington, D.C., I'm willing to bet my life—or whatever else I've got left—that we're looking at a much larger slice of a significantly smaller pie.

Matthew Harris2 said:What’s the point if you have to drive through nothing but pothole-ridden dirt roads just to get from Washington, D.C. to some random provincial US city? Russia is basically the worst example of uneven national development out there.

You're only half right. They're actually overhauling the whole infrastructure, the highways and everything... Look, they’ve already greenlit these massive projects to build a brand-new city from scratch. It's gonna be the most high-tech city on the planet, and they'll be building it for thirty years. When I saw the blueprints and renders, my jaw hit the floor. Looks straight out of a sci-fi flick, like some colony on the Moon.

Robin Ramos2 said:Since when did we decide that a city's budget is the exact same thing as its actual economic power? I mean, there’s obviously some connection there, sure, but you have to look at what percentage of the total economic pie that budget actually represents. If we're talking about Washington, D.C., I'm willing to bet my life—or whatever else I've got left—that we're looking at a much larger slice of a significantly smaller pie.

They aren't identical, but one is the best indicator you've got.
Don't give me that crap about Washington, D.C. staying stuck in the same spot it was a decade ago.
The Americans realized they shouldn't just build up Washington, D.C., but also New York City, Saint Petersburg, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles...

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:You're only half right. They're actually overhauling the whole infrastructure, the highways and everything... Look, they’ve already greenlit these massive projects to build a brand-new city from scratch. It's gonna be the most high-tech city on the planet, and they'll be building it for thirty years. When I saw the blueprints and renders, my jaw hit the floor. Looks straight out of a sci-fi flick, like some colony on the Moon.

Do you have a link for that city? I haven't heard anything about it yet and I'd really love to check it out.😉

Jack Cook73 said:Do you have a link for that city? I haven't heard anything about it yet and I'd really love to check it out.😉

http://weburbanist.com/2008/01/27/7-...ed-structures/ ☕

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:They aren't identical, but one is the best indicator you've got.
Don't give me that crap about Washington, D.C. staying stuck in the same spot it was a decade ago.
The Americans realized they shouldn't just build up Washington, D.C., but also New York City, Saint Petersburg, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles...

Wait, if it isn't the same thing, how on earth can it be the most reliable indicator??

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:Washington, D.C. is sitting on a $44 billion budget. That puts them right up there with the big dogs—only New York City ($55 billion) and Tokyo ($50 billion) have bigger budgets now.
http://en.rian.ru/video/20080327/102399075.html
Photos: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_city

You flaunt that kind of massive wealth while other places are starving out there.🤣 Even a mid-sized US city like Columbus, with barely a million people, is pulling in over 1.5 billion USD.

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:Washington, D.C. is sitting on a $44 billion budget. That puts them right up there with the big dogs—only New York City ($55 billion) and Tokyo ($50 billion) have bigger budgets now.
http://en.rian.ru/video/20080327/102399075.html
Photos: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_city

So why don't you go ahead and explain to me why you Mexicans are so obsessed with the development of Washington, D.C.? 😕
What exactly do you people stand to gain from all of this? 🤷

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:You're only half right. They're actually overhauling the whole infrastructure, the highways and everything... Look, they’ve already greenlit these massive projects to build a brand-new city from scratch. It's gonna be the most high-tech city on the planet, and they'll be building it for thirty years. When I saw the blueprints and renders, my jaw hit the floor. Looks straight out of a sci-fi flick, like some colony on the Moon.

Aside from raw materials, Russians barely export anything of substance...

Now, I’ll concede that they do export goods within the defense industry, though that volume is far too negligible to classify them as a major exporter of finished products, but what really puzzles me is
how exactly the Russians plan to reinvest the capital they are raking in right now... because in ten, twenty years at most,
we are going to hit the post-oil era...

Anthony Gonzalez25 said:Washington, D.C. is sitting on a $44 billion budget. That puts them right up there with the big dogs—only New York City ($55 billion) and Tokyo ($50 billion) have bigger budgets now.
http://en.rian.ru/video/20080327/102399075.html
Photos: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_city

Well, if Washington, D.C.'s budget is being calculated in USD, then everything makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

hollowhawk412 said:Aside from raw materials, Russians barely export anything of substance...

Now, I’ll concede that they do export goods within the defense industry, though that volume is far too negligible to classify them as a major exporter of finished products, but what really puzzles me is
how exactly the Russians plan to reinvest the capital they are raking in right now... because in ten, twenty years at most,
we are going to hit the post-oil era...

Man, talk about being totally off base—this is just pure guesswork, basically just someone chasing wishful dreams 🙂

There isn't even a hint that we're heading toward a post-oil era in the next 10 or 20 years—none at all—and saying Russian exports are just oil is way off the mark.

So, without even getting deep into the weeds of an argument, check out this American link:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/rs.html

As you can see, it's not some biased take, it's straight from the CIA, and it clearly states that Russia was exporting goods worth roughly $365 billion back in 2007. At that time, they were pumping out about 5.08 million barrels of oil per day. If you do the math based on $100 a barrel—which wasn't even the case for most of last year, by the way—that puts oil at around $185 billion. So, what happened to the rest of the export money? There's no way that other $180 billion was all weapons, because there's just no shot anyone exports that much hardware. Just for your own info, their industrial production jumped by a solid 6%!!! It's not like it's all just military gear, right 🙂?

Plus, they've got around $470 billion in foreign exchange and gold reserves, so you tell me what's working and what isn't. Sure, things might be messy in Russia—mainly their demographics—but hey, if things are growing, they're growing 🙂 And let 'em grow!

Nancy Wood6 said:Man, talk about being totally off base—this is just pure guesswork, basically just someone chasing wishful dreams 🙂

There isn't even a hint that we're heading toward a post-oil era in the next 10 or 20 years—none at all—and saying Russian exports are just oil is way off the mark.

So, without even getting deep into the weeds of an argument, check out this American link:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/rs.html

As you can see, it's not some biased take, it's straight from the CIA, and it clearly states that Russia was exporting goods worth roughly $365 billion back in 2007. At that time, they were pumping out about 5.08 million barrels of oil per day. If you do the math based on $100 a barrel—which wasn't even the case for most of last year, by the way—that puts oil at around $185 billion. So, what happened to the rest of the export money? There's no way that other $180 billion was all weapons, because there's just no shot anyone exports that much hardware. Just for your own info, their industrial production jumped by a solid 6%!!! It's not like it's all just military gear, right 🙂?

Plus, they've got around $470 billion in foreign exchange and gold reserves, so you tell me what's working and what isn't. Sure, things might be messy in Russia—mainly their demographics—but hey, if things are growing, they're growing 🙂 And let 'em grow!

Those bolded numbers are actually pretty disastrous when you look at Russia's exports compared to all those natural resources they have. We're talking maybe $240-$250 billion, which, for a population of 142 million, works out to about $1,700 per capita.
Compare that to a place like Greece, which relies heavily on tourism, where exports exceed $2,000 per person.

Yeah, that's bad. Really bad for Russia. I guess I personally thought they were doing better over the last three or four years.

Jason Anderson2 said:Well, if Washington, D.C.'s budget is being calculated in USD, then everything makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

Exactly. Their ruble isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Nobody even uses it in the countries bordering Russia, let alone anywhere else in the world.

The dollar is going to lose its grip, and honestly, I think we're looking at the Ruble becoming the go-to currency for oil trades across Asia over the next decade. Seriously, Iran could be settling oil deals in Rubles within just two years. And man, anyone claiming the Ruble isn't being used by neighboring countries is just being ridiculous... it’s basically acting like the Euro does for those surrounding nations

Moscow - rise to the Power

- The Moscow skyline is really starting to take shape

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/26/4106di1.jpg

- One World Trade Center, one of the tallest supertalls in Europe

http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=207va6.jpg