I listened to another KZreadr from Russia yesterday i think his name is Constantin and he explained how the mayor of the town thats floded now because of corruption and neglect had apartments in both SaudiArabia and Dubai because of stolen money from the building of the dam that had broke, and the most stupid thing was that nobody is going to do anything about it because the whole system is so corrupt. one more thing is that they are talking about the decadent west how everything is so bad here but all there children get there educations and live in London or Paris, The hypocricy is monumental.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Inside Russia is a good channel.

@stevecastellanos

Ай бұрын

Howdy, Howdy... Today he mentioned how they fled to Dubai and Dubai got 1yrs worth of rain and now he is flooded again.

@bakedbean37

Ай бұрын

@@stevecastellanos "flooded again" I've now got a cartoon image in my head of someone walking around with their own personal little permanent rain cloud hovering just above their head.

The more I watch your videos the more I appreciate your analysis. Great background and weaving together of facts and info to create a very interesting picture. That picture is not available on the Main Stream Media. Keep up the good work

@tonyp2865

Ай бұрын

Fake account.

Amazing content that calls for repeated viewings. Thoughtful, beautifully organized, well-researched, highly informative analysis with a great historic precedent comparing Spain to Putin's Russia. Great historical comparison with hopefully the same results.

Before Russia (then Sovietunion) discovered oil in the 1950s, they had economy reforms allowing small businesses to establish as they realized that their planed economy isn´t working. And their economy improved. But then they discovered the oil fields and started selling crude to the West (Europe), so the reforms were stopped.

@multipl3

Ай бұрын

The reform didnt fit their corrupt way of life. Oil and gas does

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

Is the problem Russia is experiencing a problem as a result of having too many resources or from" forgoing" Capitalism??

@xehpuk

Ай бұрын

Small nitpick, I think you are off by 10 years or so. But they did abandon reforms when they got oil money. Then oil prices went down a lot, possibly because Saudis did not like their invasion of Afganistan, and soviet union went bankrupt.

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

@@xehpuk Because the Saudis didn't like "their" invasion of Afghanistan, and Soviet Union went bankrupt ?????

@user-lu1ji4cl1m

Ай бұрын

during the Tsar there was a European system, - the Economy grew by Billions in Times, - Great Success, - and during the USSR there was a concentration camp - North Korea, zero Economy, - after the USSR, the European system again, became Prosperity, - and without any oil, with its own manufacturing

Fascinating discussion.

This vlog is mic drop worthy. Anna from Ukraine always refers to Russia as a dig and sell country and nothing else, but you really broke it down.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Anna from Ukraine is bright and sweet.

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

Just curious what they dig and sell regarding their weapons/ defense industry and their space industry ?

@johnpasquale7095

Ай бұрын

@@jarcadipane2849 Old weapons, and turret toss tanks. They have to do a better job in Nizhny Novgorod. Space? No manned landings on the moon. Just space junk that they crashed there.

@eddieo4978

Ай бұрын

Oil ​@@jarcadipane2849

@eddieo4978

Ай бұрын

​@@jarcadipane2849 Oil

Thank you

Great source of information. Thank you!

Thank you for your good information and analysis about Russia! Greetings from Norway 👍

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this

strangely addictive channel, must be because it is a triumph of content over presentation. That sounds really bad but I mean it in a very positive way, you do not need fancy studios, graphical content and "stuff" if what you have to say is good and I think it really is. Thanks.

@andrewwarren4206

Ай бұрын

I love it, beautiful backgrounds, clear language. People talking sense. Highly addictive and good for you. 😊

Enlightened,thank you!

Really enjoyed this and I learned something ....thank you 👏

Good points, thank you. I may add that it seems China is silently colonizing Russia economically and geopolitically without the need to fire a bullet or to occupy territory. All the work is being done by the ever increasing Russian dependence on China. In a few years from now Russia will no longer be a global player as a colonial status is incompatible with a significant role in world affairs. In the meantime Western markets continue to be the oxygen for China's [export] economy, so I am relatively optimistic that the West will find a non violent way of co existence with the Chinese.

@Sam-th4gh

Ай бұрын

Thats not true. Actually China did that to USA. USA without China is dead country. Look Dollar example, its worthless paper only

@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531

Ай бұрын

There is all upside and no downside in going that route - which is why it will probably happen. FYI Konstantin Samalov (channel INSIDE RUSSIA) had a video out on that. Seems the state has a new official posture towards China, at least in the far eastern provinces.

@josephgoertz5737

Ай бұрын

Pray for the Lords intervention in the hearts of their people's salvation. A spiritual revival.

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

It's true that China may outperform Russia, but China will outperform the West harder. Look, both Russia and the West are reliant on Chinese exports, however the West produces nothing that China wants, while Russia has energy which China very much wants. Which means that Russia, while perhaps becoming a junior partner in the relationship with China, is in a better position than the West which is just going to keep imploding economically. Westerners seem to think that they'll just be able to keep buying Chinese goods forever, but that's not how it works. The West doesn't actually have anything that China wants -- but Russia does.

Great analysis and in my view spot on.

Great insights. Very interesting. Very much enjoy listening to you and learning something.

Thank you, very interesting analysis

Well done. As I critique your assertion s, you are answering my questions Must be telepathetic.

Good stuff

What a different, relevant, informed, important and awesome perspective!impossible to get this information from the mainstream! Thank you so much!

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thank you.

Thank you for the video!

I agree.

Too true 😊

There is a lot of foreign KZread channels about the USA and our society as a whole. One of the things that many admire is our entrepreneurial spirit. Our society is built on innovation of free market economics that countries like Russia do not. Resources are great but they eventually run out leaving big holes in the land and their economy.

@uhadonejob

Ай бұрын

The story is more complex than that. The US walked away after WWII with 1/2 the world's wealth and an intact industrial base. A huge advantage. They then moved to establish the US dollar as the reserve currency. Another huge advantage. Eventually they established that oil could only be sold in US dollars and most of those dollars flowed right back to the US in the form of investments. You guessed it another humongous advantage. That money funded all kinds of tech/innovation/research that other countries just could not afford. The venture capital was also plentiful. Still the US could not curb its spending and printing of money and soon will find itself where most economies end up.

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

@@uhadonejob having the reserve currency also allows "us" or the Gov more room to screw around with large sums of money. The more loans and deals settled in USD, the better it is for the US, I think Ray Dalio has our number as he described in one of his books about all empires with reserve currencies, We too will go the way of all great empires before us, quite possibly before Russia at the rate at which we're borrowing now. Which is only set to accelerate if we continue to allow the same stupid people to make the same stupid decisions for us..

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

Why do you think we have such entrepreneurial spirit? Low cost money and cheap, bountiful energy. What does or did the US do when we trying to starve a country. Limit their food and energy. You need to agree that we are selling our agricultural farms, no?

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

How many companies like Solyndra have we funded only to go bust.?

@KiraNt4

Ай бұрын

Russia has millions of small businesses nowadays and Russian government encourages people to become sole proprietors and business owners. Paying taxes is very simple and you don't even need accountant's help, not like in the USA where you have to keep in mind so many variables.

A resourse not mentioned was the huge weapons cashe left by the Soviet Union. Russia is consuming it and it is mostly non renewable

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

I don't see that myself, as actually, Russia has a pretty healthy defense and space program, Actually, we did rely on their space program for quite a few years, if I am not mistaken...

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

I'm sure there are weapon categories for which that's true, but in many instances, the Russian defence industry is producing as much as is being destroyed. It's actually the west that is burning through its stockpiles, not Russia. Just look at how desperate the "sending weapons to the front" discussions are becoming in the west.

Is the same thing Venezuela is going through, resource curse.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Venezuela they dine on rats literally.

@gnice8765

Ай бұрын

Sanctions caused Venezuelan decline, without local counties willing to bypass the sanctions like Russia. Its ironic that you bring up a place that the world recognized a fake president propped up by the US

@billp9482

Ай бұрын

No they put their country over Oil coveted by Koch Industries. About 70% of the country is comprised of dark skinned people, so their candidate will win ANY democratic Fair election and no matter who Trump or Biden try to anoint in reality they are breaking international law. The USA illegally seizing their assets and sanctions have caused much suffering, not their leaders.

@maritaschweizer1117

Ай бұрын

Venezuela has much bigger oil resources than Russia and exploration is much cheaper than in permafrost regions.

@williammasselink

Ай бұрын

How about Iran?

Good point!

@bdleo300

Ай бұрын

He has no point... especially not I.Q. points lol... same as his 'viewers' /most of them bots obviously.

Thank yooooouuuuuu!

Excellent video, liked,and commented for the KZread algorithm

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Of course I want to be more strong worded but I tone it down for the Algo. :)

@crissdizick9403

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons Are you Orthodox?

@aleksis-kivi

Ай бұрын

​@@EconLessonsGood idea, sir. I hope you get a lot more subscribers!

Thank you very much fir great video!

Mark, I'm not sure why this appeared in my feed, but I'm happy for it. Thank you for an interesting and thought-provoking discussion. It will be interesting, and will likely be instructive to observe how this plays out. I haven't scrolled your videos yet, so if you have covered it, then please excuse my ignorance. If you haven't already, could you explain the definition of a sideways Geni coefficient? As a tradesman where this is outside my area of expertise, I'm unsure what this describes in an income distribution and would enjoy learning more! Thank you.

Nice vid!! Learned some new things about American history as well. Watch out for those gators!!

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Before I film I look for gators.

I appreciate your intuitive perspective!

"Karma ran over my Dogma" is a favorite saying. Vid on Karma would be awesome. Thanks.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thank you Ken, I have to put it together.

@johnwinskie7911

Ай бұрын

Excellent! 😂

A thought provoking intersection between philosophy and economics. Thanks!

Great video, great insights and analysis.

The innovative russians, left.

Again, that makes sense. Cheers Mark.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thank you Andrew

Your videos are great!

Good video. I believe that there are cultural problems within Russia which will prevent it from being able to change its perspective or its course. Doom is pending for Russia as it is known today - not really a good thing but maybe better than the alternative? Your identifying the Ruble as the most likely failure point does make sense. When you track the Ruble against the Dollar it appears that the currency manipulation is losing some of its effectiveness with a trend to loss of value. IF the trend continues (I think Russia may yet be able to slow or stabilize for a while) there are lots of ways this will be hurtful for Russia. I wonder whether Russia could end up becoming a vassal of China as is the case for North Korea. I might consider to be reasonably possible except I don't think China can afford it and putting two demographically challenged and innovation challenged systems together might not work out all that well?

@gabrielbalbec883

Ай бұрын

All your gibberish is nonsense. Russia is a much more complex country than you think.

@oldguy1030

Ай бұрын

@@gabrielbalbec883 Thank you for your opinion.

@darioarmellini134

Ай бұрын

Ha ha, that's hilarious.@@gabrielbalbec883

@aleksis-kivi

Ай бұрын

​@@oldguy1030Thanks for heaping flaming coals with your patient response.

@kraadnargis3294

Ай бұрын

​@@gabrielbalbec883Russia seems particularly involved in a process of retro-evolution where ethnicism, gender bias, intolerance and whatnot are gaining ground as if a "woke" culture was the real enemy of its populace, and you appear to be a strong supporter of those non-values perhaps because you belong to a privileged caste that does not want to lose ground in favour of justice and libertarism. That's thd complexity of unmasking people who figth just for themselves against widespread interests.

Agreed!

Great video. Similar concept, Diamond's, "Guns, Germs, Steel".

In Australia we only own the first six feet under our prorperties and have no claim to anything under it

@daniellarson3068

Ай бұрын

Hopefully, the smart people of Australia realize that this is a common resource that should benefit all. Norway does this with its sovereign wealth fund. Oil proceeds are invested in the future of the people. In US we often do not own the "mineral rights" on our land.

@gerryhouska2859

Ай бұрын

@@daniellarson3068 Until we can get rid of our duopoly and become a more democratically governed there is no chance of that.

@HR_8035_YEA

Ай бұрын

​@@daniellarson3068The mining companies just buy the politicians and nothing changes.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

I know right governments have funny laws about mineral or oil rights.

Well done

thanks

What I find interesting is that the USSR did fairly well in the first decade after WWII but that was before it developped its oil resources. Afterwards they used oil production to offset their lower productivity but that was in fact the mistake. Instead of liberating its people it tried to buy them off.

@user-qu6qg7sk4v

Ай бұрын

They didn't do as 'well' as you may think. The rural population (which was the vast majority of them back then) lived essentially as unpaid slaves with no monetary compensation or right to relocate (no passports) They were paid in farm produce - barely enough to remain alive. Also, look up how the muscovites systematically robbed the areas they supposedly liberated by 1945. They carted humongous amounts of valuables from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany and such - be it factories, cattle, railroads or precious metals to the glorious motherland. This gave them a nice little boost for a while.

@user-me9vi8vm3h

Ай бұрын

@@user-qu6qg7sk4vALL TRUE

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

Maybe more a function of Communism as opposed to "resource reliance".

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

I think the main problem was just that communism doesn't work -- people aren't motivated to work hard or to innovate, the market doesn't have price signals, etc. Modern Russia isn't communist, but the USSR was.

Great analysis of unproductive asset even oil and gas

I really like your videos and insights. You deserve more subscribers and views. This is what KZread was made for. Thank you 👍

You can explain things really interestingly, you can explain even dry things so that the interest remains, thanks again Mark, greetings from Finland

I didn't know that about the eighths. Learn something every day. Thanks.

Capital is a ressource. Does Capital suffer also from the ressource curse? The Ginii coefficient is a measure of governance. Does the class that make the societal rules put - the needs of the few owners of Capital above the needs of the many common people? or - the needs of the many common people in balance with the needs of the owners of Capital. The role of Gold and Silver was to serve as Capital in the days of the preindustrial (artisanal economies) empires. There has been a lot of changes in what constitute Capital in the financial systems of industrial empires. We should ask Elvira Nabiullina what she think about the objectives of governance of the current Russian government.

Very interesting and informative. Russia will collapse, but to the outside suddenly, like 1991. Until they erase kleptocracy they will decline in line with the resource curse, also since only a few counties will use their outputs until they pay for Ukraine in reparations. Also is political move away from fossil fuels. ( Australia).

Spot on.

I visited the sea shell fort in St Augustine. It's really something. Cannon balls would bounce off of its spongey walls. There's a dent in one of the walls.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

I would like to make my house out of that, 500+ years old.

Great job

Mark, this is one of your better videos l gather, really impressive subject you chose. Btw, South America isn't comprised of a lot of little countries unless you mean economic wise. Thanks.

Brilliant 😎!!! 👍🏻

Mark, I agree with you that the Putin/Russian demise will be through the Ruble/Currency. What will Putin and Oligarchs do with no financial resources? I watched a video this morning showing a crowd of Russian citizens in the flood areas loudly complaining of no governmental help for the flood victims. One brave person said something to effect " with no governmental help, the governmental officials should end up on the end of pitchforks". At least some bread people are talking out loud about it.

@oscargrainger2962

Ай бұрын

Yeah I saw that, it was a young lad not an older person.

@mariaantoniettapelo4028

Ай бұрын

I Watched that video. But the majority those people were begging Putin for help, not complaining on him.

@Kansika

Ай бұрын

I think the US demise will be through the dollar and the Eurozone through the Euro. Who has the most inflated and unrealistic currency? Could it be that living standards in the West have been artificially elevated by borrowed money resulting in staggering national debts? How hard do you think it would've been to find dissatisfied German citizens after the 2021 floods? How many want to get rid of Scholz right now? How about the residents of East Palestine, Ohio after the chemical train derailed? This demonization is just childish fantasy. The US is corrupt, the EU is corrupt but all you see is Russia bad.

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

Russia is a nearly self-sustaining economy. It doesn't actually matter that much if the Ruble falls with regards to the US, because Russians still make Rubles and then spend Rubles. So who cares how many Rubles are required to buy 1 USD. Sure, it'll be a bit harder to import American goods, but that's hardly something that would cripple Russia. It's countries that import way more than they export, like the US, that have to care very much about the strength of currencies. Russia, not so much.

It is being done. We are shifting off of a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. This is especially true with fossil fuels, but it is also true with other resources. When this war is over, Russia will go back to trying to sale their resources, but the markets won't be there. They are basically doing themselves in. In humorous terms: Our karma ran over your dogma.

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

We are creating an entire society of indentured servants.

@billp9482

Ай бұрын

Russia and India are buying all they can from Russia.

@Kansika

Ай бұрын

Is this a joke? Are you really saying knowledge is somehow going to replace resources? Whatever knowledge based means it will be built on top those same resources. Russia exports cobalt for batteries, wheat to feed people, vanadium for energy storage and tools, precious metals for high grade conductor plating, etc. They are all prerequisites for digital information technology and electric vehicles. Any way, combustion engines aren't going away just yet especially in the agricultural and mining sectors. Even if a few European countries bankrupt themselves by giving up nuclear and petroleum power it won't affect Russian export revenue due to the sanctions already in place.

@truthseeker6116

Ай бұрын

​@Kansika Russia will collapse even worse than the Soviet Union did. Putin runs Russia like a mafia Don, it's all going to come crashing down.

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

@@Kansika I guarantee, whatever bankrupt European countries do not buy, Indian and China will. By the way, one way or another, the US will buy whatever it needs/wants from whomever it wants regardless of what the US Gov tells the gen pop...

Thank you and keep up the fight 💪 🔱🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🔱 Greetings from Sweden

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thank you! I love Sweden, doing my thesis on Knut Wicksell from Lund.

@Korpen_1979

Ай бұрын

​@@EconLessonswow, how cool, the world is connected in all sorts of ways. I was born in Lund and grew up in a small village just outside. I work at the university hospital in Lund. Unfortunately, I have not been gifted with your interest and knowledge of economics, but our common vocation for Ukraine brought me to your channel and I find your videos highly rewarding.

@UnaliverOfChildren

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons lol biased kope

Very interesting ! I continue to follow you. Regarding the metaphysical aspect, I myself am surprised and... frightened! A scientist uses numbers and formulas: he tries to explain the functioning of the world on these verifiable bases. And then comes the supplement which is not found in the formula: and this supplement appears as revenge and not as ignorance, even if what is happening in Orenburg is the consequence of bad actions ! ...ditto for the next future forest fires in Siberia. Russia is cursed . It's frightening. Cheers from Belgium !

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Cheers Roland.

Historical Context matters and l Really like the way you lay it all out

Thanks again Mark. Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦.

Thanks!

@Surfer-727

Ай бұрын

Let's keep our eye on Charles.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thank you Charles this really helps.

Economist Richard Auty coined the term resource curse back in 1993 but this idea has been talked about since at least 1700s. Your explanation is all over the map and I believe a more focused presentation would truly benefit your viewers. [note-I can’t provide this explanation] Well known Russia expert Mark Galeotti noted that the Soviet economy was finally starting to grow and diversify in the 1970s and provide some limited opportunities for citizens when the discovery and exploitation of massive oil reserves began pumping huge amounts of foreign currency into the economy. This resulted in the cessation of most of this change and development as the oligarchs in power began taking the vast majority of this wealth for their own benefit. It marked a return to centralized planning and absolute state control. Who needed economic diversification and development when billions of dollars in hard currency is flooding in? The Russian system exists to allow a tiny minority of those in power to steal immense wealth while controlling and oppressing the masses. Officials in government and the military are there to steal embezzle and divert funds not provide services or take care of health and welfare of their constituency. Imagine how wealthy and developed Russia could have been if Putin and his oligarchs had invested just 10%-20% of the stolen billions into consumer loans and industrialization and economic development? China is the worlds largest economy. It’s also among the poorest in natural resources. Russia is the opposite. Russia has the economy of the state of New York and massive oil and mineral reserves worth trillions of dollars.

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

I partly agree, but the "Putin and his oligarchs are doing nothing but loot the country" narrative is slightly one-sided and outdated. I'm not saying he doesn't, but he's also doubled the living standards in Russia or something like that -- while American oligarchs are extracting so much value that living standards are declining, rather than doubling. I'm not saying Russia is perfectly run, but Russia is still growing while the west is declining. The money's worth of Western equipment that Russia has destroyed the last few years is enormous. They're doing something right. Also, the whole "Russia has the economy of the state of new york" is probably based on GDP, which is a truly awful and nonsensical measure. At least use GDP (PPP), which is still flawed but at least a bit less so. Even then, GDP figures vastly overstate the strength of service economies (the West) and understate the strength of production economies (Russia). If Russia really is the equivalent of New York's economy, why has the West given pretty much all of the material it can reasonably miss to Ukraine, and Ukraine is still losing? If Russia's economy really is that small, then Western military equipment must be the worst in the world.

The reason I believe in _Karma_ as concept is quite simple, it is even stated in _Newton's third Law of motion_ . If you further expanding on this you will eventually realize that the universe is an ocean of energy, and just as a river flows downwards due to gravity so do energy do. If you further expanding this idea you enter into the domain of _metaphysics_ and to why _evil_ is _chaos_ and _good_ is _order_ in this context. And by this extension of thinking you will come to the conclusion as to why _evil_ will eventually fail, just as someone tries to walk against the flow of the river, eventually they will run out of energy used to project _chaos_ into the river. Karma is physics!

Excellent video!

Fascinating stuff. Thanks.

If only russia had human inhabitants, and not orcs it would be possible.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Orcs as in Lord of the Rings I want to do a video about this but I fear I would not do it justice.

@alexanderhildermann9761

Ай бұрын

OrkIs Orc supposed to be an insult? If I say Harry Potter to you, will you be offended?😂😂😂

@alexanderhildermann9761

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons All right, you're an infantile half man half child... So here in Germany the orcs are very popular, more than Ukrainian zombies or American elves...

@lx5896

Ай бұрын

There were multiple times in the human history when people tried to dehumanize a group of people with propaganda. Every time it has led to dramatic events with defeat of dehumanizators as a result. Looks like the history teaches nothing...

@iivarilappalainen9836

Ай бұрын

@@alexanderhildermann9761 ...you could do refresh what orcs are - savage and violent pillagers, who mindlessly invade other lands at their one leaders command with nothing but death and destruction in mind, wave after wave. Regardless its offending or not - i can see the parallels.

The curse is laziness

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

You either have been there or read about this. The problem of beverages is huge there.

@aleksis-kivi

Ай бұрын

​@@EconLessonsAmazingly, the resource curse is true in Appalachia too with all the fossil fuels in the mountains. But hopefully even this region can transition to a knowledge economy in the near future.

One example that comes to mind is Japan. They are a country that is lacking in terms of resources but they are an economic powerhouse because of the ingenuity of its citizens.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Japan yes!

@drmodestoesq

Ай бұрын

Singapore, another good example. Japan is an excellent example because their foray into imperialism was an unmitigated disaster.

@Joe44944

Ай бұрын

Switzerland

@jarcadipane2849

Ай бұрын

Yes, Japan's lacking in a workforce, diminishing future population, militarily diminished as well especially in comparison to China and Japan is in debt for many decades to come

@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531

Ай бұрын

Germany too. It is their people that make their strength.

Fascinating. I've heard the idea that you need to be challenged to grow and develop as a person. If you're always given everything, you don't learn and grow. It never occurred to me that this concept can be applied to a larger scale, like whole countries.

What is a genie co-efficient? The Gini coefficient measures the expected gap between two randomly chosen people in a population. If the Gini coefficient is low, it means that the gap between the rich and the poor is relatively small, and if it is high, it means that the gap is large.

I remember down in Ft Lauderdale, years ago, my uncle told us all these rich guys down at the beach were Russians, probably sons of the oligarchs. I suppose only the top 1% of the population, if that?

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

A smaller fraction than that even. The have no fear of God.

@darylrainham8962

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons Same as USA. Can't you see that?

There's many examples for this. Venezuela, the island with the bird poop (to used as fertilizer), many oil rich countries. Finland was poor in resources and made the conscious decision to invest a lot of money into education. The only exception is probably Norway. Perhaps because they discovered oil AFTER they had already established a stable society / democratic government?

Very interesting explanation. I was intrigued with what you said particularly the depth of your explanations which I could not find fault with. It is pity that more economists or those who call themselves economist but do shallow research and draw poor conclusions do not do that in depth study.

Agreed.

I was saying to my wife maybe half a year ago, Russia has a lot they are not really capitalizing on. They could have such riches that would benefit everyday Russians. Look at plywood. They could make most of the world's plywood. They could build facilities to cut and process hardwoods and softwoods, manufacture plywood, and ship it around the world. It would take time plus people. Think what a tremendous undertaking that would take to dominate the world's plywood. Trucks, chainsaws, etc. It would require a lot of those machines. The could develop the manufacture of those things and could develop an export market for those things. Like Husqvarna. Multiply that times every product from steel, petroleum, etc. not to sell but to service their own industries. Rather than a few people getting rich, every Russian would get a benefit. Happiness would grow. Russia could be the richest country in the world and they could do this legitimately and without coercion. Well, you're an economist. I don't need to tell you. Instead, they are like the Mafia.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Yes Harry, thanks! Human capital and imagination is what creates value.

@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons That is why the formerly burned-out and defeated WW2 losers (primarily Germany and Japan) later turned into economic powerhouses. Look at how much stuff in your house is of German or Japanese design. Their wealth is in the skills and drives of their people.

@kenofken9458

Ай бұрын

Russia has a pretty sizable forest products industry, but it's basically another extraction industry held captive by the state and a couple dozen oligarchs.

@harrymason1053

Ай бұрын

@@kenofken9458 What I'm talking about is not like that. It would be 25 times as big and offer business opportunities for a million small business all across Siberia. I would go to Lowe's and see several different types of plywood products, hardwood veneer and soft. Let's have some can-do, not a whole lot of can't do.

@peternolan4107

Ай бұрын

@@harrymason1053 You are expecting Russia to change its centuries-long culture of corruption and authoritarianism. If you were talking about a country with reasonable political traditions and a population that wants to innovate, you might be right. But you are talking about RUSSIA. As soon as you proposed this plywood industry to them, their first question would be how much of a bribe they will get. Read some history and you will get a much better picture of reality.

I think that's at samsquanch back there

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

That would be great to get on Camera.

West Virginia lived the resource curse.. their still recovering. The children won’t quite school knowing a high school diploma is their only way out of the state. The demographic has collapsed and there was never any infrastructure built from taxes because the state politicians were corrupt and no taxes were taken to supply the state with funding.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Its amazing WV is right next to the metropolis and little money trickles over. It is a resource curse example.

Interesting

Does the resource curse apply to the people who have Bitcoin?

@nattygsbord

Ай бұрын

Bitcoin is an idiotic system with a suicide mechanism built into it. The system gets it energy from its users that are giving up CPU (computer power) to it, and in exchange do they get Bitcoins in a process known as "Bitcoin mining". Fanboys of this currency means that just like with real gold and silver you have to sacrifice energy to dig it up from the ground. All the computer power the system gets are then used to enable people from moving Bitcoin money from one Bitcoin account to another. But if people no longer do any Bitcoin mining, then will the system slow down so much that moving Bitcoin money from one place to another cannot be done fast or easily. And that will make people even less interested in being involved in Bitcoins which will kill the interest for this currency even more, and possibly even make the situation worse with fewer Bitcoin miners. And if energy prices goes up, or if the price of Bitcoins falls low... then will it simply not be worth mining any new Bitcoins. You will not make any profit from mining any new Bitcoins as energy costs are higher than any profits you make from Bitcoins. So the system is idiotic, and built to self-destruct. It is of course hilarious when people think that all inflation is caused by money printing and nothing else, and that a fixed amount of money would protect your wealth and provide price stability that will make economic calculations more predictable and thus encourage long term economi growth. Face is that Bitcoin is jumping up and down in price with enormous upswings and rapid downward crashes. Good luck having a company and try to make any long term planning with Bitcoins when the costs for buying raw materials all of a sudden can increase with 500% just like the wages for your workers. And then little more than a month later have the price of Bitcoin crashed, and you cannot get much paid for the products you sell despite you had bought them at previously high prices that was 5 times higher. So now your company is runned at a loss, and its a matter of time before it goes bankrupt. The system is totally unsubstainable. And Bitcoin do today consume more energy than all solar panels in the world produces combined. All for this useless piece of crap.

If a currency is not fully and freely convertible, then it is impossible to do more than estimate its value.

Getting off of fossil fuels would help a lot. Improvements in recycling and repairing all sorts of products I think would too. I'm not intending to be snarky with this comment. I think economic degrowth could help in a lot of ways. Speaking as USian many of my working and middle class peers talk about having too much stuff, getting flimsy t-shirts for all sorts of participation, there's all sorts of knock-knacks being made so people can always give a gift even when no one wants the thing. Best Buy is trying to get people to 4k and 8k TVs, when most people do not even have the cable package or movies to make use of it. Taking more time to build better quality items and then being able to fix items I think would encourage creativity too.

Humans need to be equalized by uncoupling the monetary system from resource based economic growth. Resources have been the only way to pull people out of economic poverty in the past. This has turned out to be the biggest reason form monetary inequality. 8.1 billion people get 7,000 dollars per month all year long every year. A great start to monetary equalization and improved resource understanding and management. Drawing out resources over a longer amount of time so that thousands of years from now our future generations have projects they can take on. Thank you.

Excellent Mark.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thanks Michael as always.

Hi Mark! Very interesting discussion! I believe that Russia will exhaust itself militarily, leaving its largely unpopulated and resource-rich eastern territories open to assimilation by other population-rich and resource-poor countries, such as, obviously, China. That will remove or at least diminish the resource curse of Russia proper, and rebalance Eastern Asia demographically.

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

The Swedes thought that Russia would exhaust itself military. Then they lost. Napoleon thought that Russia would exhaust itself military. Then he lost. Hitler thought that Russia would exhaust itself military. Then he lost.

@johnwinskie7911

Ай бұрын

@lightworker2956 Those were all examples of invasions of Russia. A better example would be the Crimean War of 1853, which Russia instigated, and during which it did in fact exhaust itself militarily and economically. Another example is the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which lasted the entire decade of the 1980s and led directly to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

You are absolutely right.👍 I have another example: Argentina and Japan. Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. It has all the most important minerals: gas, coal, metal ores, etc. It has some of the most fertile land in the world. And it is bankrupt with hyperinflation and no prospects for a better life. Japan has had nothing but earthquakes, tsunamis and wars. Now it is one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world.

Is this going to be worth that “the Great Depression” type of event for Russia? I am just trying to think of ways to profit from it.

Tyranny Corruption Low Development Conflict Genocoefficient gone bad Lacks diversification of redources

@Emily-ou6lq

Ай бұрын

sounds like what's going on in the EUSSR

I never made a link between natural resources and the value of human resource, or lack of worth of citizens since their well being does not change income of the state.

Spain's case with the abundant gold coming from the Americas is a case I don't see very much in history books, yet it is one of the hardest and most clear lessons of why nations must avoid the Resource Curse at all costs. The influx of gold and silver rendered manufacturing and high value industries and even farming far less competitive because the the appreciation of the exchange rate. Spain starting importing almost everything, from swords used in the military to even ships and many other things. Absolutism didn't help either and high corruption and lack of solid institutional frameworks accelerated the empires declined.

Well explained and and although much of economic terminology is way over my head, I grasped the logic. Also being a big Joseph Campbell fan, I really liked how you tied the economic structure to the human side of meaningful living “mythology” (philosophy, psychology)-more sustainable archetypes. Watching a new documentary on Hulu about escaping North Koreans I wondered why or how that country still exist. Anyway, hope you are spot on. Thanks you. Slava Ukraine!

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

I was thinking of doing a video on the Joseph Campbell but am afraid I might not do proper justice to the ideas.

@BobMaltbie

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons I thought it was pretty dern interesting you mentioned Campbell in the first place given the topic. That said, it makes sense as to factoring in emotions, belief structures, ect., that most certainly impact economic demographics. I suppose you could also use Fromm, Hegel, along with so many others that could impact an economy via freedom of thought, and or meaning of life, and or recognition of oppression (motovation). I'm more a philosopher so I'm not sure how to connect the numbers to the emotions, but I'm sure human conditioning is a factor. Cheers!

What abaut Norway? Both resource and knowledge based. Can be done!!

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Norway is great because of this. They work hard and use their brain like Magnus Carlsen.

@nattygsbord

Ай бұрын

They desperatly tries to keep the inflation out from the country. They have their national wealth fund (Statens pensjonsfond Utland (SPU) that owns 1.3% of the shares of stock market companies around the world. They use their money to buy companies in other countries so not all oil money stay in Norway and push up prices on almost everything. But despite this, are things very expensive in Norway. Wages are good but prices are high. So Swedes like to travel to Norway to work, and Norwegians drive to Sweden to buy stuff because everything is so much cheaper in Sweden.

@davidfoster2006

Ай бұрын

But they invested for their people unlike Russia.

Pay no mind to the noise in the woods. It was just a bear behind you with a gator in its mouth, obviously not interested in another meal. Dutch Disease definitely applies here. Except for crappy cars and a state run military industrial complex, Russia has almost no manufacturing sector. Few people saw the fall of the Soviet Union coming, and yet it did. The signs of Russia's demise now, however, are prolific.

@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531

Ай бұрын

A shame. The only made-in-Russia objects I have ever seen in my life are some old Progress Publishers books and the rare Ural motorcycle. Generally their goods don't make the cut.

@lightworker2956

Ай бұрын

"Russia has almost no manufacturing sector." Just off the top of my head, Russia by itself is producing 3x more artillery shells than the entire west combined. And yes, a military industrial manufacturing sector does count (they're also selling lots of stuff to Iran for example). Not saying that Russia is perfectly run, but this just sounds like you're making stuff up.

@timrider1224

Ай бұрын

@@lightworker2956 This is why I specifically stated "except for crappy cars and a state run military industrial complex..." When was the last time you picked up an item in a store that said "made in Russia?" Russia has an extraction economy, not a consumer products manufacturing one. Government produced artillery does not produce net income, it just kills thousands of people, destroys huge amounts of property, and gets destroyed in the process. In the past, Russia has generated some income selling artillery to other countries but this makes up a very small part of its GDP. In the last two years, however, sales have tanked due to the poor performance shown on the battlefield.

Does the resource curse damage the USA?

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

In some regions like WV. But the US economy is so diverse and a different idea that people here use resources to create value rather than the resource being the only value. Look at rocky New England and how rich it is.

Superb analysis.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thank you Peter!

Very insightful!

I was with you till you went all supernatural 😂 Totally agree with all of your earlier points though ✌️

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

Thanks but I do state I am not a supernaturalist. I am a rational corrosive skeptic who believes in God.

@bigolboomerbelly4348

Ай бұрын

​@@EconLessonsGod bless

Look what happens when someone escapes his straight jacket and then stands in front of a camera.

@EconLessons

Ай бұрын

The elite in Moscow?

@tonyp2865

Ай бұрын

@@EconLessons As your NATO poster boys are being humiliated you've found yourself having to poat negative Russian stories as a coping mechanism. Most of the commenters here are fake accounts. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.