This is pretty huge. About half of Russia’s crude oil exports go to Europe. Losing 2/3rds of that market is a big hit to one of their staples.

@dave
Not really.
Russia is a self-sustaining coutry, so not being able to trade is not a real issue, unless it stays disconnected for at least a decade. (I would guess)

Russia is a self-sustaining coutry, so not being able to trade is not a real issue

Russia losing the ability to trade is doing massive damage to their GDP, and tons of Russians were employed by multi-national corps that have now pulled out of Russia. I can’t recall specific unemployment figures but I believe they were expecting something like a 20% YoY GDP shrink because of the sanctions and multi-nationals pulling out.

And it’s going to get worse because the end goal is to stop importing russian oil or gas entirely. The contraction is going to be painful.

@dave GDP is a meme econometric that measures participation in the global economy, not production.

@LukeAlmighty

@NEETzsche @dave
It should measure production. Is there something I'm missing?

(Also, measuring production without price of that production or passive costs of society is a joke to be sure.)

@LukeAlmighty GDP doesn’t measure production, it measures recorded transactions.

What if I raise some chickens as you’re building up a cattle ranch and then we swap eggs for milk? How much does GDP increase? None, because the transaction isn’t recorded.

What if I build a big, fancy house or of materials that are on my property, and don’t sell it? How much does GDP go up? None, because there’s no transaction.

You know what does make it into GDP? Rent.

@dave