The "grey economy" isn't the issue, nor is the accounting that generates the numbers displayed. What I'm saying is Russia's economy has the power to do things that most economies lack, and that power comes with Russia being handicapped by a significant lack of workers, which is the root of the demographic problem. China is the only nation with an economy as powerful as Russia's and look at what its accomplished since 2006.
After absorbing the free “preview” of Simplicius, I noted with great interest his mention of the “grey economy” and was a bit dismayed that he didn’t explore it more thoroughly. I would venture to say that imho the fact that much of Russia’s economic activity is in the hands of the oligarchs who are well versed in “off the books” transactions would account for a significant portion and this ‘style’ of doing business ‘trickles down’ to small business and small time ‘entrepreneurs’. One of Putin’s crowning achievements as Russia’s leader was his getting the oligarchs to sit down at “the BIG table” (thanks Karl for that photo!) and agree to work together with his government as patriots and the leaders of their respective industries. Just pay your taxes and that part which is not ‘on the books’ is not scrutinized (or taxed). EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE looks for ways to avoid taxes- I would argue that the Russian style of business and finance is more principled than the “mob rule” insider trading hustle that is pervasive in Western finance- remember Matt Taibbi’s “giant vampire squid”?
Putin's last six major addresses on the economy paint the picture of what's going to be built, how and for whom. China is the only peer. We should be happy that both Russia and China seek peace and fraternity, not dominance.
Agreed! The ‘numbers game’ of economic performance statistics is more appropriate for say, sports betting than as a metric for gauging the improvement in the quality of life for the citizens. Infrastructure capitalism with “Chinese and Russian characteristics” ! ;^)
Another way of accounting for the power of Russia's economy is to include a assessment on the amount of GDP support it's resources allow in countries that receive and benefit from Russia's exports. ( This could obviously extend to all raw material export nations and as such provide an alternative metric for economic ranking which would particularly accentuate the positive contribution countries with lower nominal GDP, according to standard calc, yet strong raw materials exports actually engender.) Think Mali and uranium suppliesto France and all the economic benefits that are facilitated in France, or the competitive pricing of the formerly consistent and reliable provision of russian gas to germany.
Much of hese massive economic benefits to the importer could also be included in such an extended metric of the exporters economic power and should be standard additional metric.
Of course importing countries, the world bank and inf etc implicitly know this hence the tendency for imposition of debt trap and policy favourable to wealth extraction .
To have a positive league table of resource exporters and a composite metric with GDP would give a sense of how much economic support the raw materials exporting countries actually provide to the " richer" nations and their dependence on the resource exporting nations.
this metric would not be calculated from tonnage per se, but from the notional ( and real) value it facilitates in the receiving economy.
In terms of numbers or notional value, an analogy would be the layers of vat that accrue to central governments. Only in this case the notional holder of the GDP facilitated, as per the suggested metric, ( analogous to the central govt in the vat metaphor) would be the nation that provides the raw material
This would be the underside of the standard equations of trade with respect to raw material wealth extraction across global supply and value chains and tie in well with win-win understandings and provide a reference point for measuring, scoring and balancing any degree of exploitation
Note 2* :
This does not need to zero sum with traditional assessments of value added by processing and branding in the importing countries, further along a particular set of supply chains. But be a separate metric acknowledgement from the point of view of the exporting nation.
Yes, Hudson, myself and others have discussed the need for an alternative means of economic measurement. Your suggestion is part of the needed alteration.
Thank you Mr. Sanchez, for picking up the torch of conversation, so those not able to comment at S, due to THE SYNAGOGUE OF MONEY'S inhibition rules to thwart free exchange of thought due to its inherent need to earn a "profit" - and I am not referring to the author of the article but to THE FIAT CURRENCY PONZI SCHEME under which the entities operate, can do here. The aspect of having to earn a profit, locking someone into an eco system (ss being one) is the most profitable one, would essentially be already one aspect which isn't accounted for considering the effectiveness and prowess of a people.
VVP/RF is also bound by this constraint of THE FIAT CURRENCY PONZI SCHEME but due to different factors/particularities of history are not yet in the ROTTEN STAGE other nations are/have been for a long time - which only were possible to be covered up for so long by employing DECEIT AND MILITARY INTIMIDATION.
now if only russia could do more financial hanky panky in the style of wall st, or the city of london - things would look so much rosier, lol.... when you are in a room of mirrors, best not to study the mirrors too closely..
" ... when you are in a room of mirrors, best not to study the mirrors too closely...." which applies - if one wants to be truly rigorous - to ALL ACCOUNTING of man's activities. As the ONLY true VALUE that counts is WISDOM, which cannot be COUNTED.
It's not WHAT you have or HOW much you have of it, but WHAT do you do with what you have. And in this regard the article above as well as of S.t.T. as well as the phenomena of VVP/RF/CH are only a description (using numbers, which in and of itself is THE LIE) of HOW each entity is using what it has - but only counting what can be expressed in numbers. India for example has 10x the population but only 2x GDP - latter in and of itself being ERRONEOUS a billion ways.
Counting MILITARY SPENDING and spending in THE MEDICAL PHARMACOLOGICAL ... COMPLEX as GDP is beyond comprehension. Take out the trillions of dollars from THE SICK COMPLEX and there is barely any GDP in THE US left ... I know it's an exaggeration but not being LOGICALLY rigorous (the numbers can be fudged any way you want, and having a megaphone is not going to help anyone, as can be seen with "the west", to stay on the track of truth) from A to Z is FATAL. Which I believe is going to catch up EVENTUALLY with VVP/RF/CH.
That's basically what I was trying - as incomplete and haphazardly as ss comments allow;-) - to reemphasize only by applying a telescope instead of a magnifying glass on the issue.
As l believe labeling "financialisation" the REASON reveals the flaw of such reasoning. "Financialisation" is nothing but THE SYMPTOM bringing to light the DISEASE which is torturing man for millennia.
But only the technology and the physical affluence that it makes possible enables the "transparency" that allows THE DISEASE to be brought to light - if one allows oneself to look behind THE VEIL OF DECEPTION without being afraid of what HORRORS one might find.
Yes, as Hudson's revealed, the Class War between Creditors and Debtors in the West has lasted for 4,000 years and was spread to the RoW via the Age of Colonialism. All the subterfuge, cancelations and quests for megalomatic power are now mostly revealed. How the current Neoliberal Age was brought about is clearer than ever before, although for many it remains opaque since they aren't researchers into that reactionary movement. Based on what he's revealed so far, Hudson's third volume of his Trilogy will be its most powerful and will certainly upset many millions.
I am not familiar with Hudson's beliefs (although I might have come across his thoughts at some point), so I will have to rely on my understanding based on the comments relating to him and my imagination based on my beliefs regarding this topic.
I believe that what your comment refers to as class wars between Creditors and Debtors is also nothing but a symptom of THE DISEASE that goes straight through man's heart, i.e. Debtors and Creditors are two factions of THE SYNAGOGUE OF MONEY. Which one way or another will EVENTUALLY have to go to war against each other as they have decided to be bound at the hip falling into the trap of THE MENTAL PRISON CAVE that they are their own masters. And like with any DELUSION it will EVENTUALLY be revealed as such by THE TRUTH.
I am fully aware that this sounds very cryptic, but this is the best I can do to encapsulate my thoughts in words.
PS: What I have written, doesn't contradict in any way the claims put forward in your comment, it just expands the scope of what I believe the world is facing.
BIBLICAL IS THE ONLY DESCRIPTION THAT COMES TO MIND!
Even more fundamental than "money" (being a mere claim) is the thermodynamic reality that fossil energy, which globally (like all resource) is getting harder to extract, and which can't be replaced with electricity alone. As such this will not have escaped the notice of TPTB at all levels and I am certain must be a crucial weighty factor informing their decision making process.
Yes, Humanity faces a crisis, although it could be said Humanity has suffered through a long ongoing crisis that has finally come to a head. But with crisis as the Asians note also comes opportunity, and it shall not be squandered.
Simplicius also notes that Russian Grey Economy is not accounted in the statistics. 😎
The "grey economy" isn't the issue, nor is the accounting that generates the numbers displayed. What I'm saying is Russia's economy has the power to do things that most economies lack, and that power comes with Russia being handicapped by a significant lack of workers, which is the root of the demographic problem. China is the only nation with an economy as powerful as Russia's and look at what its accomplished since 2006.
After absorbing the free “preview” of Simplicius, I noted with great interest his mention of the “grey economy” and was a bit dismayed that he didn’t explore it more thoroughly. I would venture to say that imho the fact that much of Russia’s economic activity is in the hands of the oligarchs who are well versed in “off the books” transactions would account for a significant portion and this ‘style’ of doing business ‘trickles down’ to small business and small time ‘entrepreneurs’. One of Putin’s crowning achievements as Russia’s leader was his getting the oligarchs to sit down at “the BIG table” (thanks Karl for that photo!) and agree to work together with his government as patriots and the leaders of their respective industries. Just pay your taxes and that part which is not ‘on the books’ is not scrutinized (or taxed). EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE looks for ways to avoid taxes- I would argue that the Russian style of business and finance is more principled than the “mob rule” insider trading hustle that is pervasive in Western finance- remember Matt Taibbi’s “giant vampire squid”?
Putin's last six major addresses on the economy paint the picture of what's going to be built, how and for whom. China is the only peer. We should be happy that both Russia and China seek peace and fraternity, not dominance.
Agreed! The ‘numbers game’ of economic performance statistics is more appropriate for say, sports betting than as a metric for gauging the improvement in the quality of life for the citizens. Infrastructure capitalism with “Chinese and Russian characteristics” ! ;^)
Another way of accounting for the power of Russia's economy is to include a assessment on the amount of GDP support it's resources allow in countries that receive and benefit from Russia's exports. ( This could obviously extend to all raw material export nations and as such provide an alternative metric for economic ranking which would particularly accentuate the positive contribution countries with lower nominal GDP, according to standard calc, yet strong raw materials exports actually engender.) Think Mali and uranium suppliesto France and all the economic benefits that are facilitated in France, or the competitive pricing of the formerly consistent and reliable provision of russian gas to germany.
Much of hese massive economic benefits to the importer could also be included in such an extended metric of the exporters economic power and should be standard additional metric.
Of course importing countries, the world bank and inf etc implicitly know this hence the tendency for imposition of debt trap and policy favourable to wealth extraction .
To have a positive league table of resource exporters and a composite metric with GDP would give a sense of how much economic support the raw materials exporting countries actually provide to the " richer" nations and their dependence on the resource exporting nations.
Note*
this metric would not be calculated from tonnage per se, but from the notional ( and real) value it facilitates in the receiving economy.
In terms of numbers or notional value, an analogy would be the layers of vat that accrue to central governments. Only in this case the notional holder of the GDP facilitated, as per the suggested metric, ( analogous to the central govt in the vat metaphor) would be the nation that provides the raw material
This would be the underside of the standard equations of trade with respect to raw material wealth extraction across global supply and value chains and tie in well with win-win understandings and provide a reference point for measuring, scoring and balancing any degree of exploitation
Note 2* :
This does not need to zero sum with traditional assessments of value added by processing and branding in the importing countries, further along a particular set of supply chains. But be a separate metric acknowledgement from the point of view of the exporting nation.
Yes, Hudson, myself and others have discussed the need for an alternative means of economic measurement. Your suggestion is part of the needed alteration.
Thanks Karl. I've edited my comment for punctuation.
Appreciate your work
Thank you Mr. Sanchez, for picking up the torch of conversation, so those not able to comment at S, due to THE SYNAGOGUE OF MONEY'S inhibition rules to thwart free exchange of thought due to its inherent need to earn a "profit" - and I am not referring to the author of the article but to THE FIAT CURRENCY PONZI SCHEME under which the entities operate, can do here. The aspect of having to earn a profit, locking someone into an eco system (ss being one) is the most profitable one, would essentially be already one aspect which isn't accounted for considering the effectiveness and prowess of a people.
VVP/RF is also bound by this constraint of THE FIAT CURRENCY PONZI SCHEME but due to different factors/particularities of history are not yet in the ROTTEN STAGE other nations are/have been for a long time - which only were possible to be covered up for so long by employing DECEIT AND MILITARY INTIMIDATION.
now if only russia could do more financial hanky panky in the style of wall st, or the city of london - things would look so much rosier, lol.... when you are in a room of mirrors, best not to study the mirrors too closely..
" ... when you are in a room of mirrors, best not to study the mirrors too closely...." which applies - if one wants to be truly rigorous - to ALL ACCOUNTING of man's activities. As the ONLY true VALUE that counts is WISDOM, which cannot be COUNTED.
It's not WHAT you have or HOW much you have of it, but WHAT do you do with what you have. And in this regard the article above as well as of S.t.T. as well as the phenomena of VVP/RF/CH are only a description (using numbers, which in and of itself is THE LIE) of HOW each entity is using what it has - but only counting what can be expressed in numbers. India for example has 10x the population but only 2x GDP - latter in and of itself being ERRONEOUS a billion ways.
Counting MILITARY SPENDING and spending in THE MEDICAL PHARMACOLOGICAL ... COMPLEX as GDP is beyond comprehension. Take out the trillions of dollars from THE SICK COMPLEX and there is barely any GDP in THE US left ... I know it's an exaggeration but not being LOGICALLY rigorous (the numbers can be fudged any way you want, and having a megaphone is not going to help anyone, as can be seen with "the west", to stay on the track of truth) from A to Z is FATAL. Which I believe is going to catch up EVENTUALLY with VVP/RF/CH.
i was suggesting the financialization of everything in the west is the reason why the gdp and etc look a certain way - ala michael hudson ideology...
That's basically what I was trying - as incomplete and haphazardly as ss comments allow;-) - to reemphasize only by applying a telescope instead of a magnifying glass on the issue.
As l believe labeling "financialisation" the REASON reveals the flaw of such reasoning. "Financialisation" is nothing but THE SYMPTOM bringing to light the DISEASE which is torturing man for millennia.
But only the technology and the physical affluence that it makes possible enables the "transparency" that allows THE DISEASE to be brought to light - if one allows oneself to look behind THE VEIL OF DECEPTION without being afraid of what HORRORS one might find.
Yes, as Hudson's revealed, the Class War between Creditors and Debtors in the West has lasted for 4,000 years and was spread to the RoW via the Age of Colonialism. All the subterfuge, cancelations and quests for megalomatic power are now mostly revealed. How the current Neoliberal Age was brought about is clearer than ever before, although for many it remains opaque since they aren't researchers into that reactionary movement. Based on what he's revealed so far, Hudson's third volume of his Trilogy will be its most powerful and will certainly upset many millions.
Thank you Mr Sanchez for sharing your thoughts.
I am not familiar with Hudson's beliefs (although I might have come across his thoughts at some point), so I will have to rely on my understanding based on the comments relating to him and my imagination based on my beliefs regarding this topic.
I believe that what your comment refers to as class wars between Creditors and Debtors is also nothing but a symptom of THE DISEASE that goes straight through man's heart, i.e. Debtors and Creditors are two factions of THE SYNAGOGUE OF MONEY. Which one way or another will EVENTUALLY have to go to war against each other as they have decided to be bound at the hip falling into the trap of THE MENTAL PRISON CAVE that they are their own masters. And like with any DELUSION it will EVENTUALLY be revealed as such by THE TRUTH.
I am fully aware that this sounds very cryptic, but this is the best I can do to encapsulate my thoughts in words.
PS: What I have written, doesn't contradict in any way the claims put forward in your comment, it just expands the scope of what I believe the world is facing.
BIBLICAL IS THE ONLY DESCRIPTION THAT COMES TO MIND!
SOLI DEO GLORIA!
Even more fundamental than "money" (being a mere claim) is the thermodynamic reality that fossil energy, which globally (like all resource) is getting harder to extract, and which can't be replaced with electricity alone. As such this will not have escaped the notice of TPTB at all levels and I am certain must be a crucial weighty factor informing their decision making process.
https://ourfiniteworld.com/2024/05/21/reaching-the-end-of-offshored-industrialization/
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/
https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com/
https://energyskeptic.com/
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9js5291m
Yes, Humanity faces a crisis, although it could be said Humanity has suffered through a long ongoing crisis that has finally come to a head. But with crisis as the Asians note also comes opportunity, and it shall not be squandered.