The sanctions are hardly the issue James. It's the anti-putin sentiment in Europe. For example the Swift ban won't go into effect until March 12. The tories are having trouble to build their case to sanction the oligarchs.
But IKEA pulling out, Germany building a new army and yachts being seized are very visible and scary for investors. Russia should've kept their markets open and have taken the hit. By closing the effects aren't felt in Europe until the energy bills are due at the end of this month. Closing the markets was the capitulation of Russia in the economic war.
Im referring to the talk about how the sanctions will cause the average people to revolt.
Thats BS. That didnt work with Cuba. It didnt work with North Korea. It didnt work with Venezuela.
It never works. Targeting the Oligarchs? That MIGHT work. But they need to retaliate with a lethal strike. Putin is KGB, he has and will kill his enemies. If they go for the king, they best not miss.
And if they dont? They could go on for years.
Venezuela fell apart completely. They stopped selling subway tickets because the paper for the tickets was too expensive. The currency was worth nothing. There were some protests, they got shut down, and now things continue to roll like usual, except with oil going up, theyre doing better. You never read about Venezuela in the news anymore because the collapse didnt fully happen.