Putin's Albert Speer (Putin's Cabinet Shakeup Reflects Shift in Strategy...)

[Meredith Poor + 895]

 

Quote

...and replaced him with acting First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, a 65-year-old economist who formerly served as economic development minster and who aligns closely with Putin's statist, centralizing impulses.

Lets see what happens when we do this in the West...

...and replaced him with [John Maynard Keynes], author of The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Hopefully Keynes could help Britain win WW II, which, up until America became involved, was going badly.

...and replaced him with acting economist [Milton Friedman], who formerly served as head of the economics department at the University of Chicago. This would have 'helped the US win the Viet Nam War', right?

The general disposition of economists is to identify the 'path of least resistance' and optimize for the best use of labor. Wars are neither of those things, they are a path of exorbitant waste and expenditure, particularly with human capital. However, the term 'economist' has a different meaning in Russia. A better Western term equivalent is CPA (Certified Public Accountant), someone who keeps books, schedules production, minimizes taxes, and otherwise oversees accounting and recordkeeping. Any Russian that is a Western style economist immediately moves to the West in pursuit of academic (and personal and economic) freedom. No one in Russia uses the term Accountant, that would imply some sort of accountability.

Putin has correctly surmised that the Russian economy needs to be in the best shape possible to 'win the war', however the easiest way to 'win' the Ukraine war is end it immediately and return Ukrainian territory - all of it. As matters stand, Russia's threatening posture to the West has resulted in a hardening of NATO resolve and a buildup of military assets along the Russian/Belarus border, something that requires (or should require) the construction of appropriate defensive structures and the provisioning of various civil defense refuges. As the US and Europe pour money into weapons and ordnance, they ship 'leftovers' to Ukraine, which they use to flatten the Russia attackers. This concentrates Russia's military assets away from the NATO front, as well as depletes and overloads Russia's navy.

The Ukraine war is something like the Spanish Civil War prior to WW II, where various military technologies were 'tested on the battlefield', such as, for instance, the Stuka dive bomber. The US and Europe are learning important lessons in how drones are used for offense and defense, and the relative value of ground troops, tanks, and other hardware against UAVs. While Russia fights its weaker southern neighbor, the NATO forces bide their time and restock their armouries.

[specinho + 467]

On 5/15/2024 at 9:45 PM, Meredith Poor said:

 

Lets see what happens when we do this in the West...

...and replaced him with [John Maynard Keynes], author of The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Hopefully Keynes could help Britain win WW II, which, up until America became involved, was going badly.

...and replaced him with acting economist [Milton Friedman], who formerly served as head of the economics department at the University of Chicago. This would have 'helped the US win the Viet Nam War', right?

The general disposition of economists is to identify the 'path of least resistance' and optimize for the best use of labor. Wars are neither of those things, they are a path of exorbitant waste and expenditure, particularly with human capital. However, the term 'economist' has a different meaning in Russia. A better Western term equivalent is CPA (Certified Public Accountant), someone who keeps books, schedules production, minimizes taxes, and otherwise oversees accounting and recordkeeping. Any Russian that is a Western style economist immediately moves to the West in pursuit of academic (and personal and economic) freedom. No one in Russia uses the term Accountant, that would imply some sort of accountability.

Putin has correctly surmised that the Russian economy needs to be in the best shape possible to 'win the war', however the easiest way to 'win' the Ukraine war is end it immediately and return Ukrainian territory - all of it. As matters stand, Russia's threatening posture to the West has resulted in a hardening of NATO resolve and a buildup of military assets along the Russian/Belarus border, something that requires (or should require) the construction of appropriate defensive structures and the provisioning of various civil defense refuges. As the US and Europe pour money into weapons and ordnance, they ship 'leftovers' to Ukraine, which they use to flatten the Russia attackers. This concentrates Russia's military assets away from the NATO front, as well as depletes and overloads Russia's navy.

The Ukraine war is something like the Spanish Civil War prior to WW II, where various military technologies were 'tested on the battlefield', such as, for instance, the Stuka dive bomber. The US and Europe are learning important lessons in how drones are used for offense and defense, and the relative value of ground troops, tanks, and other hardware against UAVs. While Russia fights its weaker southern neighbor, the NATO forces bide their time and restock their armouries.

Something interesting about war economy:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_economy

Summary:

- concept of "military Keynesianism",

a) used to fight recessions. 

b) accelerating technological progress to such an extent that an economy is greatly strengthened after the war

c) last ditch effort to prevent deteriorating economic conditions or currency crises, particularly by expanding services and employment in the military, and by simultaneously depopulating segments of the population to free up resources and restore the economic and social order.

 

All in all, it sounds trouble........

Much more money would be spent..... with possibly no impact on what needs to be improvised......