Nobel laureate in Economics: Russian trade surplus is a sign of weakness, not strength

[Noahv]

As usual Paul Krugman explains Economics in a simple, easy to understand way: Russia is exporting much more than it's importing, not because they are selling lots of oil, but because they can't import anything, due to sanctions
The article is three days old, but in case you haven't seen it:

So is Vladimir Putin winning the economic war?
No, he’s losing it. That surging surplus is a sign of weakness, not strength — it largely reflects a plunge in Russia’s imports, which even state-backed analysts say is hobbling its economy. Russia is, in effect, making a lot of money selling oil and gas, but finding it hard to use that money to buy the things it needs, reportedly including crucial components used in the production of tanks and other military equipment.

Why is Russia apparently having so much trouble buying stuff? Part of the answer is that many of the world’s democracies have banned sales to Russia of a variety of goods — weapons, of course, but also industrial components that can, directly or indirectly, be used to produce weapons.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/opinion/putin-russia-sanctions-ukraine.html

[grantcart]

1. A national economy that primarily sells natural resources and buys

Finished goods fits the classic definition of a third world country.

Prior to the Ukranian War Russia per capita GNP decline by 30% under Putin.

A decline of 10% in the US would spark political upheaval.

[uponit7771]

2. K&R, ... and Russian internal logistic is screwed to the nth degree (link)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216715037