Russian Pres. Putin’s Economic Strategy Outwitted Hapless Joe Biden

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin probed Joe Biden regarding his response to an invasion of Ukraine. Joe Biden was out of his depth with the former KGB operative who rose to power and possesses a veritable stranglehold on Russia’s highest office.

When Biden’s incompetent lackeys told him to threaten “sanctions,” the Ukraine invasion and a global economic chess match were simultaneously launched. Unfortunately for Americans suffering out-of-control inflation, rising interest rates, and perhaps another Great Recession, Biden got checkmated before the first shot was fired.

The White House and the fake news media would like voters to believe the economic woes Americans are suffering are byproducts of Russia’s war with Ukraine. That may be true — in part — only because the Biden Administration did not fill critical posts with the brightest and the best. Instead, the color and gender ruled that day and the country is now run by some of the most incompetent people you find a quarter short of a subway token.

Truth be told, as America’s supply chains are backlogged, baby formula shortages land infants in ICUs, and people can barely afford to drive to work. By contrast, Russia’s economy has more than weathered the pathetic attempts at economic sanctions. Putin pivoted and pegged the Russia Ruble to the gold standard and continues to export oil, natural gas, and coal to America’s true adversary — China.

“What the Russians did was a genius, I hate to say it,” Jack Bouroudjian, former president of Commerce Bank in Chicago and now chairman of the Global Smart Commodity Group, reportedly said. “It forces people to go to the Russian central bank and pay gold to get rubles to make the transactions. Now the Ruble basically recovered, trading 80 rubles to the Dollar. And it’s because of the way they pegged the Ruble to gold.”

The move allowed Russia to quickly bounce back from EU and U.S. sanctions targeting raw materials and energy, among others. The initial economic hit dropped the Ruble’s value against the Dollar from 70-80 to 120. But forcing international trading partners such as China and India to pay in gold or Rubles has significantly altered the monetary playing field. Russia has essentially declared war on the Dollar and America’s economic rivals are taking notice and allies are suffering.

“When the EU announced its partial ban on Russian oil exports (recently), the cost of crude oil on the global markets rose, providing the Kremlin with another financial windfall. Russia is finding no difficulty finding alternative markets for its energy, with exports of oil and gas to China in April up more than 50 percent year-on-year,” Larry Elliott, economic editor at The Guardian, stated. “As a result of the war, western economies face a period of slow or negative growth and rising inflation – a return to the stagflation of the 1970s. Central banks — including the Bank of England — feel they have to respond to near double-digit inflation by raising interest rates.”

According to platforms such as Trading Economics, the Ruble hit a 7-year high-value measure of 54.1 against the U.S. Dollar while the Biden Administration leveled misguided sanctions. It retreated slightly to 61 per Dollar at the beginning of June, holding stronger than before the Ukraine invasion. In fact, the Ruble is enjoying positive gains not experienced since 2017 when it was below 52 per Dollar.

In terms of inflation, initial attempts to punish Putin through economic strategies appear to be nothing more than a glancing blow. Russian inflation spiked to a reported 17.8 percent year-over-year in April. By May, the cost of goods and materials shrugged off price hikes, and the Russian inflation rate is already showing signs of normalizing. Such cannot be said of the U.S., and sanction-crazed European nations.

Even Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who once went on the record claiming inflation was only “transitory, recently confessed everyday Americans would be wise to brace themselves for years of elevated inflation. That’s largely because she and her fellow Biden Democrats missed every conceivable indicator the country was in trouble.

“Certainly, the economic outlook globally is challenging and uncertain, and higher food and energy prices are having stagflationary effects, namely depressing output, and spending and raising inflation all around the world,” Yellen reportedly said. “These pressures are not likely to abate in the very near future.”

Since getting Americans embroiled in an Eastern European land war, Joe Biden and his brain trust remain 10 moves behind Putin who is poised to expand Russia’s holdings. Putin managed to increase exports to China by 28.7 percent during the first quarter of 2022 and oil is expected to substantially increase in the coming months. Thanks to Joe Biden’s diverse group of checkers players, Russia and China will likely be paying less at the pump than Americans.