It is hard, as one follows the war in Ukraine, not to be struck by a paradox, Sky's Ed Conway writes
It is hard, as one follows the war in Ukraine, not to be struck by a paradox.
It is understandable that for the time being most attention is focused on what is happening on the ground in Ukraine. The death and destruction occurring each day in Mariupol, Kyiv and elsewhere is heartbreaking. But, and this matters, never before have such measures been imposed in tandem, at such speed, and upon such a significant economy.
Most striking of all was the decision by the US, Europe and their allies to ban Russia from using their foreign reserves held in Europe and the US. It is hard to overstate the significance of this. While something similar happened to Iran, it has never happened to as big an economy as Russia, with as big a pile of foreign reserves.Reserves - a stockpile of money and gold - are typically used by nations as a kind of insurance policy to protect them from future financial crises.
The idea was that if they ever faced a similar crisis they would have the wherewithal to deal with it themselves.
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