Take That, Putin
Western sanctions harm Western economies much more than their intended targets.
The 'I Support The Current Thing' meme depicts a grey nonenitity blindly supporting whatever movement or ideology dominates the news cycle. Modern slacktivists are the target: non-thinking infoslop consumers who support or oppose causes in ways that require zero effort.
Superinflation threatens to replace war in Ukraine as the next 'current thing'. I have wondered how that transition would be handled by media who assign opinions to the masses.
Fact check: False
An early effort to re-brand inflation as 'Putin's Price Hike' didn't work. People had noticed that inflation was rising long before the war began. Another drawback is that Western sanctions are far more economically destructive to Western economies, than to Russia.
A new story was needed, and at the G7 summit last week, we saw one floated. Economic problems created by war/sanctions are portrayed as a necessary sacrifice to support Ukraine.
How this helps Ukrainians is not defined. It cannot be defined, because the sanctions being no benefits to the people or military … And only make the Russian ruble and economy stronger.)
The first stab I saw at this storyline was made by Margarethe Vestager—whose official job title is Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age.
Back in April, the holder of that absurd job-title advised:
Everyobody is asking 'what can I do?' You can do two things: Control your own and your teenager's showers. And when you turn off the water, you say: 'Take that, Putin!'
Vestager was widely derided, but the same tale is now told by more senior politicians,
'A price worth paying'
The cost of food and energy is soaring in the UK, with inflation reaching a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent last month. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told journalists at the G7 meeting that the economic effects of not helping Ukraine would be even worse than what the UK currently faces:
Sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying. And that is worth protecting, that is worth defending, that delivers long term prosperity.
And US President Biden took a similar line:
REPORTER: How long is it fair to expect American drivers ... To pay that premium for this war?
BIDEN: As long as it takes.
Biden's Director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese, went further:
REPORTER: What do you say to those families who say, "Listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years. This is just not sustainable".
DEESE: What we heard from the President today was a clear articulation of the stakes: This is about the future of the liberal world order and we have to stand firm.
It makes no sense:
Biden tells us we must sanction and sacrifice to maintain the 'liberal world order'.
He is also begging Saudi Arabia to pump extra oil, in order to plug shortfalls created by sanctions.
And the Saudi government is saying 'no' to Western requests to prevent higher energy costs
Inflation fixes this
The Superbubble is not just financial, it is also a bubble of delusion. This is demonstrated by politicians and news media who refuse to think through the consequences of driving Western economies off a cliff.
Was the news always this stupid? The hyper-emotionality of reporting is increasing. Here is a list of 33 biases increasingly showing up in mainstream media. I think I remember when journalists asked politicians difficult questions. But critical thinking does not happen when the 'current thing' is invoked. And that is leading up to very serious economic problems that will not become fully apparent until later.
A return to reality is the only solution to this bubble of delusion and it will likely happen via continued inflation.
Inflation is the downward revaluation of abstractions (western currencies) versus reality (real goods and services). This is how fiat currency systems always end. And when huge sovereign-debt Superbubbles blow up, it's safe to bet against whoever is in charge.