Month: March 2022

It’s a Bad Time to Be a Russian General

Buck Banks

4

“Four Russian brigadier generals have died in three weeks on the battlefield in Ukraine, Kyiv officials said, showing faults in Moscow’s ability to lead troops into battle,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The Russian military’s fighting style appears to have contributed to the losses, analysts say. Other factors include subpar radio communications and intense fighting, including ambushes by Ukrainian forces near cities. Replacing them with officers with similar experience could prove difficult.”

Ukraine Claims Russia Lost 40% of Its Attack Units

Buck Banks

40%

South China Morning Post: “Russia has lost up to 40 percent of the units it sent into Ukraine when Moscow invaded its neighbour in February, the Ukrainian military’s general staff said on Wednesday.“
“The troops were either completely destroyed or have lost their combat capabilities, according to the daily bulletin, which did not give concrete numbers. The information could not be verified independently.”

Why Putin’s Nuclear Threat Resonates

Buck Banks

“The advent of tactical nuclear weapons — a term generally applied to lower-yield devices designed for battlefield use, which can have a fraction of the strength of the Hiroshima bomb — reduced their lethality, limiting the extent of absolute destruction and deadly radiation fields. That’s also made their use less unthinkable, raising the specter that the Russians could opt to use a smaller device without leveling an entire city. Detonate a one kiloton weapon on one side of Kyiv’s Zhuliany airport, for instance, and Russian President Vladimir Putin sends a next-level message with a fireball, shock waves and deadly radiation. But the blast radius wouldn’t reach the end of the runway.”

— Anthony Faiola

Summer: Fed’s Course Leads to Stagflation, Recession

Buck Banks

“I believe the Fed has not internalized the magnitude of its errors over the past year, is operating with an inappropriate and dangerous framework, and needs to take far stronger action to support price stability than appears likely. … The Fed’s current policy trajectory is likely to lead to stagflation, with average unemployment and inflation both averaging over 5 percent over the next few years — and ultimately to a major recession.”

— Larry Summers, who served as U.S. Treasury Secretary from 1999 to 2001.