Quote Originally Posted by UhOhXplode View Post
^ FTFY

The west demanded that Russian troops withdraw from the border... after the unconstitutional coup of the legally elected, democratic government...

More on-topic:
Prices are rising in the US faster than normal. Especially food. We live in one of the least (if not the least) populated regions in the US where the prices are the lowest in the US.
Apartments that were leased for about $800 / month last year are now leasing for $1,500 / month this year. Fortunately my parents are owners, not tenants, but I do know property owners that lease and their prices.
My new TV that was selling for less than $200 was more than $300 when I got it this year. Food prices surprised everyone. The closest estimate dad could make was a 35% rise since last spring.
And my new hiking boots that were advertised for $94 cost $160 when I got those.

So nobody can tell me that the stupid sanctions aren't affecting the US. They are. Dad said it's normal for prices to increase each year but these increases are not normal.
At the last OPEC meeting, the Saudis claimed they could survive $60 / barrel for about 1 year. They didn't say how long they could survive prices below that - definitely not for a whole year. The oil prices will go back up.
But "The end"? That's laughable.
A better title woulda been "The big temporary dip".
And yeah, I know that dip won't be easy for a lot of people - here and especially in Russia. But it will end.
In the US, the new Sanctions / Lethal Aid bill (that Congress pressured Obama into signing, btw) is totally reprehensible and disgusting but it only gives Obama the power to do those things (it doesn't force him to do it) and he doesn't seem very willing to. Good.
But I'm not an economist so I don't really understand the recent plunge in the ruble - I just hope it gets fixed really soon.
And don't forget, the purpose of the sanctions is "Regime change in Russia". So don't forget what happened the last time "Regime change" happened (1990's).
Anyway, I'm happy to see that Russia is diversifying it's economy. I hope it can find ways to prevent this from happening again.
I hate buck inflation, and you're right - anything that is higher than 4% a year is NOT ok.

As for the ruble - it's just an asset, and its value is dependent on the financial rating of the issuer (i.e. Russia), which is now kinda going down the drain. The fall of the prices of the most (if not only) strategical resource, unreasonable foreign & domestic policies (including the infamous ban on imports), etc. are all creating a pretty shady image for the country, which immediately affects its financial rating. We can wait and see if it's going to start changing to the better at some point, but it's obviously impossible without some global refactoring on the way that country is doing its business.