Recent Posts

Erdogan looks to Putin to ease foreign currency woes

An extraordinary uptick in capital flows of unknown origin to Turkey has left many wondering whether Russian money could be involved. Turkey’s energy import bill — standing at $83.5 billion over 12 months in July — is a major factor behind its gaping current account deficit. And with Russia being …

Read More »

Price Increases Persist Despite Supply Chain Progress

The overall Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in August, core was up 0.6 percent; up 8.3 percent and 6.3 percent year-over-year, respectively. Overall, the picture shows inflation persisting in a wide variety of areas where it seems that supply chain issues are being overcome. This is not a good …

Read More »

Russia’s Underperforming Military (and Our Own)

In Washington, wide agreement exists that the Russian army’s performance in the Kremlin’s ongoing Ukraine “special military operation” ranks somewhere between lousy and truly abysmal. The question is: Why? The answer in American policy circles, both civilian and military, appears all but self-evident. Vladimir Putin’s Russia has stubbornly insisted on …

Read More »