“Though wages are rising, inflation is winning the race”

That’s the title of a NPR report.

Inflation hit 7.9% in February compared to a year earlier, setting yet another four-decade high. Wages are not keeping up. Average hourly wages in the private sector rose at an annual rate of 5.1% last month.

Some context is useful here; while real wages are declining, private nonfarm payroll wages are still higher than they were on the eve of the pandemic (2.1% higher). They are markedly so for workers who were working in the lowest wage categories, including hospitality and leisure (4.8% higher).

Figure 1: Average hourly earnings in total private nonfarm (black), and in leisure and hospitality services (chartreuse), for production and nonsupervisory workers, in 2020$ (using CPI as deflator). NBER defined peak-to-trough recession dates shaded gray. Source: BLS, NBER, and author’s calculations.

Inflation adjusted wages are yet higher if one uses the PCE deflator.

Figure 2: Average hourly earnings in total private nonfarm (black), and in leisure and hospitality services (chartreuse), for production and nonsupervisory workers, in 2020$ (using PCE deflator). Cleveland Fed nowcast of 3/10 used for February PCE. NBER defined peak-to-trough recession dates shaded gray. Source: BLS, Cleveland Fed, NBER, and author’s calculations.

 

 

79 thoughts on ““Though wages are rising, inflation is winning the race”

      1. pgl

        This is important for reasons that our know nothing cannot get:

        “here have been only a few instances of a president’s seeing his party’s position in Congress improve in a midterm election. Yet, remarkably, one such moment did occur during the Great Depression. In the midterm election year of 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt put the blame for hard times on self-serving speculators, greedy bankers, and profiteering CEOs. Said FDR, “The fault lies with Wall Street.”

        Instead of letting corporate spin form the narrative of the Great Depression and the New Deal response to it, Roosevelt used his 1934 State of the Union address to speak “of those individuals who have evaded the spirit and purpose of our tax laws, of those high officials of banks or corporations who have grown rich at the expense of their stockholders or the public, of those reckless speculators with their own or other people’s money whose operations have injured the values of the farmers’ crops and the savings of the poor.”

        Throughout 1934, FDR never let up when it came to calling out speculators, monopolists, and price gougers. He promised that New Deal Democrats with increased congressional majorities would hold the bad actors to account. Voters approved. In November, they gave Democrats nine more seats in the House and nine more in the Senate, where the party achieved a rare supermajority.”

        We did not have an inflation problem when FDR became President. We had a deflation problem which FDR addressed in part by going off the gold standard. JohnH on the other hand said the gold standard era was great. Go figure!

        1. JohnH

          If it worked for FDR, why have so few economists, monetary officials, and politicians been so reluctant to call out corporations for anti-competitive behaviour, particularly when most voters believe that corporations’ pricing decisions are contributing to inflation…and the majority of corporations are in fact raising their prices in excess of both inflation and of their costs?

          How else can you explain it besides corruption…in some cases corruption manifesting itself as a desireto go along to get along, not rock the boat, enhance career prospects, etc?

          1. pgl

            Look troll. I have always been in favor of reducing monopoly power. Also in favor of reducing monopsony power which was Macroduck’s contribution with that Treasury report. A thread which you tried to rudely high jack with your what about inflation. So when I bring up the topic of absolute price changes during FDR’s time, you try to change subjects like this?

            You are pathetic, dishonest, and yes very rude. As well as pointless as a rock.

      2. T. Shaw

        Now, it’s price gouging????

        Hell! Yesterday it was Putin. Which was number four or five [not counbting ‘transitiry’] on the growing list of “It wasn’t me!” causes for inflation.

  1. James

    HI Menzie – I know one personal anecdote doesn’t mean much but I found this interesting: I was in local grocery store – early morning – and one woman was restocking the shelves of nearly empty frozen food aisle.
    Me: HI – what’s going on? Food chain supply issues again?
    Her: No – maybe a few items – this is mostly people buying multiple items – stockpiling family dinners. Also – I’m the only person working in frozen foods and can only work so many hours – I have a life and family outside of here.
    Me – shaking my head: wow
    Her: I know this is great for our economy – but I’m one person and can only work so much.
    My viewpoint and here is where I start editorializing – took this to mean that our corporate overlords are doing well and still refusing to pay enough to attract additional workers.
    Personally – I think a major problem in U.S. food supply is food waste – (https://www.usda.gov/foodlossandwaste) – I have recommitted myself to using/consuming food more wisely.
    Thanks again for your helpful blog.

    1. pgl

      I used to buy high quality chicken breasts for $3 a pound at the store across the street from the gym. Today’s price was $5.50 a pound so I tried a different store and was happy to pay $4 a pound. Yes – one needs to be on one’s toes these days!

      1. Bruce Hall

        Depends on how high quality you insist on:

        https://www.kroger.com/p/heritage-farm-boneless-skinless-chicken-breasts-with-rib-meat/0021065600000 ($2.19/lb. some bones)
        https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-natural-raised-cage-free-boneless-skinless-chicken-breast/0024061550000 ($4.99/lb. no bones)
        https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-natural-chicken-breast-cutlets-thinly-sliced-4-6-per-pack-/0024096150000 ($7.99/lb. no bones)

        It’s all food.

        Sort of like buying a car:
        https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/mazda/mazda3/prices ($22+K)
        https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/lexus/ls ($77+K)
        https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/mercedes-benz/s-class ($110+K)

        They’re all cars.

        1. pgl

          Yes Brucie – I used to shop at Kroger’s which is one of the two better groceries in the South. And leave it to you to buying the low priced garbage chicken. After all – you have not left the basement for two years relying on your overworked mother to do your shopping.

          1. pgl

            “Ask Barkley why I call you Lucy.”

            Barkley is happily married so he does not need a blow up doll.

      2. rsm

        Isn’t Beyond meat deflating?

        Also, from another post:《Said FDR, “The fault lies with Wall Street.”》

        Didn’t the obvious fix lie with the Fed? Why did FDR persist in worrying about deficits, instead of challenging the tight money theorists?

        1. pgl

          “Didn’t the obvious fix lie with the Fed? Why did FDR persist in worrying about deficits, instead of challenging the tight money theorists?”

          Lord – you are one ignorant moron. FDR took us off the gold standard so as to allow for expansionary monetary policy. You make some of the dumbest comments ever to appear on the internet.

  2. JohnH

    Using different time as context, , data can often be made to look better. One set of time frames that does really matter is presidential terms. It will be interesting to see how Biden tries to spin this to Trump voters…

    1. pgl

      You should know. You were the one that tried to tell us that UK real wages rose under Cameron even though most credible people documented they fell by 10%.

      1. JohnH

        Exactly. I referenced a certain time frame to show that real wages can rise when inflation is virtually non-existent, but pgl had to change the time frame to make an entirely different, partisan point.

        1. pgl

          No troll – you lied over and over again. Of course a few months ago, you denied all the lies you posted over at EV.

          1. JohnH

            No, I linked to the UK’s Office of National Statistics that showed a record record high labor participation rate combined with rising real wages, zero interest rates, and few virtually no inflation. Meanwhile the business press kept warning of the dire consequences of deflation for workers!

            It seemed to me that reality in the mid twenty tens was not playing out in accordance with well established economic theory.

            But pgl insisted on deflecting the issue from economic theory and making it into a partisan issue. In any case, when establishment figures start warning of dire consequence for workers, it’s time to see if you can smell a rat! Since when do they care about the well being of workers, except in an election year to criticize incumbents?

          2. pgl

            JohnH
            March 11, 2022 at 12:33 pm
            No, I linked to the UK’s Office of National Statistics that showed a record record high labor participation rate combined with rising real wages, zero interest rates, and few virtually no inflation.

            Thanks for reminding us that you misrepresented what ONS showed. Ever heard of Simon Wren Lewis who happened to be the ONS go to economist. I kept reminding you back then that SWL was writing just the opposite of your serial disinformation. SWL is smart and honest – unlike you.

          3. JohnH

            Far from misrepresenting ONS I quoted directly from their reports and linked directly to them. All pgl did was to move the goalposts to different time frames in a lame attempt to deflect attention from the findings that ran counter to his macroeconomic faith and make false, partisan claims about me.

            Happens all the time with pgl…

          4. pgl

            “JohnH
            March 11, 2022 at 4:58 pm
            Far from misrepresenting ONS I quoted directly from their reports and linked directly to them.”

            You remind me of Jerry Bowyer and his infamous Fuzz Charts. No – your old EV comments routinely misrepresented what happened to UK real wages so much that you started denying here what you wrote there. But liars often double down.

    2. pgl

      “It will be interesting to see how Biden tries to spin this to Trump voters”

      Let’s see real wages per the graph started rising back in 2015 so any intelligent person would suggest Trump rode the coat tails of the Obama boom. But yea we know you think being intelligent and honest is equivalent to being a corporate sellout. Please continue with your usual rightwing idiocy!

      1. JohnH

        Significant numbers of voters did not feel that they were better off under Obama, which is probably why Hillary had no coherent economic message and why many voted for Trump. Good luck with trying to spin that stupid message!

          1. JohnH

            Nope. I voted third party. I wish most Americans would register their disgust with the corrupt duopoly by doing the same.

        1. baffling

          “Significant numbers of voters did not feel that they were better off under Obama”
          the reality is they were better off. but in our democracy, we seem to really want to protect entities that intentional misrepresent or outright lie about the current status of the world. I am talking about fox in particular, and the cavalier way most republicans go on their shows and shout lies and misinformation. if you notice, and a similar thing is happening in Russia right now. that population really does believe Putin has sent in freedom fighters.
          most people did better under Obama than under trump. but you will never get a maga hatter to admit this truth.

          1. JohnH

            Baffling: lots of “economists” seem mystified at why so many are so down on this economy. Then we get the official numbers that show that in fact workers are worse off in terms of real wages than they were two years ago. Despite their running as fast as they can and changing jobs as fast they can, they are in fact running on a tread mill, not getting ahead in terms of real wages. Of course, elites can’t wrap their heads around this reality! Nominal wages are rising fast!

            You should change your name to baffled or clueless…

        2. macroduck

          So, here’s the thing, Johnny. All this picking of convenient end-points and putting perception ahead of reality is what dishonest political hacks do. Why talk about reality when spin is just so satisfying?

          For a while, I figured you were a right-wing disinformationist posing as a lefty. I still think that’s a good explanation for your behavior. My biggest cause of doubt is that there is a low cleverness necessary for that sort of operation which you seem to lack. Your comments are just so unclever. More like a combative adolescent who has just learned ajout spin and decides to give it a try. Like the effort of a clumsy beginner.

          You keep bringing up the fact that some people voted for Trump, as if that is evidence Biden is doing something wrong. Well, hate to break i to you, but more people voted for Biden. Heck, more people vote for Hillary than Trump, so if that’s your measure of Obama’s policies, he did OK. Trump is not the measure of all things, despite what you may think.

          If one were more interested in honest assessment – I know, I know, you’re eyes are already glazing over, but this won’t take long – if one were interested in honest assessment, economists have some standard objectivity tricks you could adopt. Here are two:

          Measure from economic cycle peak to cycle peak, rather than between presidential inaugurations, because cycles are themselves a big driver of economic outcomes. Burdening a president with the after-effects of a recession which started before he (so far) took office is dishonest.

          If you just can’t bring yourself to stop using presidential tenure as the timeframe for analysis, then lop off the first year of a presidential term; very few policy changes a president proposes (Congress disposes) have any real effect in their first year.

          Or you could continue to employ dishonest, adolescent spin. Which I expect you will do, since most of this honesty stuff has been pointed out to you already, and you keep coming back to “a president’s job is to suck up to people who voted for the other guy”. That’s a really silly position.

          Let us know what you decide. Or better yet, don’t bother.

          1. JohnH

            Trump won in 2016, didn’t he? I maintain that it was due to 8 years of a lackluster Obama economy, though Democrats couldn’t bring themselves to say, “it’s the economy, stupid!

            And didn’t Trump get a lot more votes in 2020 because a lot of voters recognized that they were much better off than four years earlier? In fact, real median household income was higher than ever in 2020.

            What saved Democrats was Trump’s disastrous COVID policy. That plus being a loathsome idiot.

          2. pgl

            You provide a very informative report on an issue that should concern all citizens especially progressives. And what do you get from Johnny Boy? Well you did another great job of replying that nothing else needs to be added!

          3. JohnH

            Maybe macroduck should address this to Krugman, who took great delight in touting Obama’s great jobs numbers, which he calculated from the bottom of the Great Recession, not from the peak of the previous economic cycle. Did macroduck notice? Will he school Krugman?

            Finally, late in Obama’s incumbency, some time after Krugman’s columns were posted, the jobs numbers started to look decent. But it was too lackluster for Democrats to tout, and Hillary ended up with no coherent economic message.

          4. Baffling

            “ I maintain that it was due to 8 years of a lackluster Obama economy, ”
            John, I maintain hillary would have won if the republicans had not convinced comey he needed to intervene in the election with his announcements. And most of those republicans who created that interference were being led along by the russian influence in right wing echo chambers. We would not be dealing with russia in ukraine if trump had not won a poisoned election.

          5. pgl

            JohnH
            March 11, 2022 at 12:43 pm
            Trump won in 2016, didn’t he?

            Actually Putin is the one that put Trump in the White House. And this troll calls baffling clueless? What a moron!

          6. pgl

            JohnH
            March 11, 2022 at 1:00 pm
            Maybe macroduck should address this to Krugman

            Macroduck has noted many times how JohnH lies about what Krugman has said. Hey Johnny boy – that hole you are digging is already quite keep. So you might want to stop.

          7. Macroduck

            Johhny, you “maintaining” this or that is irrelevant. You’re just a demonstrably ill-informed guy. An ill-informed guy who just goes on and on…

          8. JohnH

            So here’s a link to Krugman’s counting jobs by term: “ The truth is that the private sector has done surprisingly well under Mr. Obama, adding 6.7 million jobs since he took office.” Factually correct but wrong methodology according to macroduck. From the previous cyclical peak Obama had created just over 2 million jobs. So I ask macroduck, did he school Krugman on the proper methodology?
            https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/29/opinion/paul-krugman-the-obama-recovery.html
            https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USPRIV

            Or maybe he thinks thatproper methodology is only important for one’s opponents and for lesser mortals, not “very serious people?”

          9. pgl

            Check out how Johnny boy is defending his old claim that UK real wages rose under Cameron and how he accuses people who point out that they actually fell as moving the goal posts. After all Johnny boy says only he knew how to use ONS data. This post used ONS data to present UK real wages from 2007 to 2018:

            https://fullfact.org/economy/how-have-wages-changed/

            Here is the trick Johnny boy kept using for this rather volatile series. He ignored the periods from 2010 to 2013 and cited the temporary spike in 2013 while ignoring what happened in the next couple of years. Now that is the most artful moving of the goal posts I have ever seen.

  3. Steven Kopits

    The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense just published a promotional video offering each Russian pilot a reward if they defect to #Ukraine with their aircraft. USD 1 million per aircraft and USD 500,000 per helicopter.

    I think the US should raise the ante to $10 million per fighter jet and $5 million per helicopter with citizenship for the pilot and any dependents in the EU or North American country of their choice. We could more or less purchase the Russian air force for about $3 billion, chump change under the circumstances. Throw in $2 million per functioning tank, and that’s another $2 bn for 1,000 tanks, which is about half Russia’s total, if I recall. We have a number of advantages over the Russians, one being an endless supply of money compared to Russian resources.

    For a budget of $10 bn, we could purchase literally every bit of Russian kit entering Ukraine. And we can establish a market to manage flows. Want more tanks? Raise the rate! The Germans just raised their defense budget by $110 bn. A fraction of that would be enough to vacuum up all the Russian assets in Ukraine.

    That’s the power of economics for you!

    1. pgl

      So tell us Stevie – how many Russians have taken up this offer? Of course if this works, I’m collecting funds from the other people who read this blog to pay you for never inflicting us with your usual intellectual garbage. Name your price!

    2. pgl

      https://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-arms-company-offers-1m-capture-working-russian-aircraft-1686080#:~:text=The%20post%20says%20that%20it%20will%20offer%20%24500%2C000,send%20their%20equipment%20to%20be%20offered%20Ukrainian%20citizenship.

      I wonder why Stevie pooh forgot to provide this link to his story, Oh wait – there may be downsides to this idea. Yep once again Stevie was less than honest with us.

      But read the story as there is good news from Moscow. Polling the citizens there and it seems over half blame Putin for this mess. Putin’s reign of disinformation may be failing as badly as his invading troops.

        1. pgl

          You had to tell me that the poll is from Moscow when I lead with “But read the story as there is good news from Moscow.”.

          Stevie – please learn to read someday.

    3. baffling

      as a concept, I actually agree with you Steven. in practice, one issue is how do you effectively communicate this to the Russian soldiers. that may be more difficult. of bigger concern, is the family the Russian leaves behind. you think Putin will go nice on them? this will become a more effective idea once those Russian soldiers learn how economically devastated the homeland has become.

      1. Steven Kopits

        Baffs –

        Not everyone will participate. But that’s the power of prices! We can raising the bid until we have the defection rate we desire. Trust me, the issue will be handling the logistics of defection.

        If we siphon off even 20% of Russian capability, it’s going to be very, very difficult for Putin. Psychologically, it will be devastating. And remember, those military assets go over to the Ukrainians.

        So, no boots on the ground, just money in the pocket.

        1. Steven Kopits

          As for communication with the Russian soldiers, I guarantee everyone will know about it within two hours after the program is announced.

      2. pgl

        So a Russian soldier has $1 million as he enters Kyiv but Putin’s police decides to visit his house back in Russia to take the wife and kids prisoner. Something tells me that Stevie has not quite thought this through. Putin is much more ruthless than our pretend economist formerly from Princeton has ever considered.

        1. Steven Kopits

          Of course it’s not for everyone. But I think 10% of the potential military takes it right away for one reason or another, and maybe another 20% under certain circumstances. You don’t need to buy everyone to cause chaos back in Moscow.

          And as for the grunts, that would be pretty easy I think. A lot of these guys come from hell hole Irkutsk or somewhere, and they’d pretty much do it just for the EU citizenship.

          And keep in mind, you only pay if they come over to your side.

      3. Steven Kopits

        Also, Baffs, you could pay for referrals. 10% commission. All these guys have each other’s phone numbers. I mean, this could be a big thing in no time.

          1. Steven Kopits

            Well, it was announced today, so let’s start with that.

            So you don’t think this is a good idea? You think the Ukrainians should rescind the offer rather than us bumping it up 10x?

          2. pgl

            “So you don’t think this is a good idea? You think the Ukrainians should rescind the offer rather than us bumping it up 10x?”

            Maybe assuming Putin does not take out the family of the defecting soldier. I guess you think Putin is too nice of a fellow to do that. Moron.

      4. Anonymous

        you show the russian grunt the 1938 flim “alexandr nevsky” (exceptional musical score) and say biden is the ‘grand master of the new teutonic order’.

        the situation in ukraine is evil…. on both sides.

        biden armed the white pawn, which happens to be next to the black king. chess terms!

        the king will do what it wills..

        biden’s intransigence is killing people and the excuses for his intransigent are not moral!

        and biden shouting he is ‘killing the moscow exhcange’ ran on cnbc in the last trading hour of the down week and by coincidence the dow dropped 600 points from the day high.

        if biden kills one exchange the rest are okay!

        consumer confidence is generational low!

        may be it is disgust in the way the usa regards human pawns’ lives……

        1. Barkley Rosser

          Anonymous,

          Why do you keep identifying Biden with the Teutonic knights in the Nevsky business? They were the invaders while Nevsky and his people were those defending their territory against the invaders. This makes it clear that it is Putin’s Russians who are the equivalent of the invading Teuronic knights.

          We understand that Putin is trying really hard to turn this into WW II with the Ukrainians as Nazis and Russians as virtuous Soviets. But again, it is Putin’s Russians who are the invaders like Hitler’s Germans were. When Stalin used the Alexander Nevsky film as propaganda, at least for his situation the roles were right: the invading Teutonic knights resembled the invading Germans of the Nazi Hitler.

    4. Steven Kopits

      Here’s a budget for you:

      Units Reward ($m) Budget ($ m)
      Fighter Jets 300 10.0 3,000
      Helicopters 200 5.0 1,000
      Tanks 1,000 4.0 4,000
      APCs 1,000 2.0 2,000
      Senior Officers 100 25.0 2,500
      Junior Officers 1,000 2.5 2,500
      Soldiers 100,000 0.1 10,000
      Total $25 billion (+EU / US citizenship)

      From the decidedly unscientific Quora, but sounding about right based on my Hungarian experience:

      Conscripts in Russia earn 2086 (28$) roubles a month, with an option to earn twice as much due to the bonus system. Of course, legally speaking, conscripts are doing their duty, not performing a job, and they don’t really have to pay for their lodgings, food, uniform, etc. And it’s just for a year.

      Professional soldiers in Russia earn something like 30–40 thousand roubles (about 500$) a month, but there are all sorts of bonuses that can influence an individual’s wage. Soldiers fighting in Syria can earn up to 200 thousand roubles ($2600) a month. That’s a lot of money in Russia

      For a sense of proportion, the Germans just increased their defense budget by $110 bn, ie, you could mop up the Russian military for, in effect, chump change.

    1. pgl

      BTW Bruce Hall has been endorsing these Putin lies. If Putin uses chemical or biological weapons, Brucie would have to apologize if he had an ounce of integrity. But of course he does not so he will not.,

    2. Anonymous

      why not wait for them to bring the case for treaty violations to the un.

      ruskies (and china intel) claim to have occupied a number of dtra funded bio war locations …

      if you believe dtra (dod) was doing surveillance for who/nih/cdc in ukraine i got a deed…..

      you can believe what you do…

      1. Barkley Rosser

        A.,

        “them” The Ukrainians have already brought the case for treaty violations to the UN. In the General Assembly 143 nations agreed with Ukraine while only five agreed with Russia: Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Eritrea, with 34 abstaining and one not voting (Venezuela).

        You really are just gone on this lying Russian propaganda, aren’t you? Just which source are gobbling up for this nonsense?

  4. pgl

    This blog had a lot of fun with Trump’s stupid trade war with China. Well it seems President Biden is talking about tariffs on Russian goods, which has both different motivations and different likely effects. Maybe a post or two on this new idea.

    My limited understanding goes like this. Russian’s #1 export is oil/natural gas followed by things like gold, potash, and coal. The US itself is not a key importer of Russian goods with the leading regions being China and the EU. Whether other nations followed Biden’s lead will be important.

    I suspect that a tariff on Russian oil will not raise the price paid by the importer as the price received by Russia will likely fall relative to the price of oil from other suppliers. But this is just a guess – not based yet on any real economic analysis.

  5. Moses Herzog

    I thought Charles Goodhart’s thoughts on inflation, highlighted in this week’s WSJ were interesting. I’m not buying into it yet, but he still makes a good argument. I’m not sure if people have ever fully realized how much women joining the workforce killed a lot of leverage the uh, “prior workforce” had. You in essence doubled the prior supply of American labor. Is it a “coincidence” this almost seemed to coincide timing wise with the killing off of Unions??? I’m not making value judgements. I think even people who greatly applaud women having more freedom to enter the American workforce would have a hard time arguing these concrete facts.

    1. Moses Herzog

      I should say, back in the late 1980s when my Mom got her BSN and became an RN, it sure did drastically increase the living standard of our family, which up to that time, did not feel like we were “the Keatons” of Family Ties TV show. Prior to my Mom getting her BSN life probably felt more like “Raising Hope” or “My Name Is Earl”.

  6. Steven Kopits

    NATO’s Emerging Ukraine Strategy

    The lead on American Thinker this morning: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/03/natos_emerging_ukraine_strategy.html

    And the Biden Doctrine for those who may have missed it: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/03/the_biden_doctrine_abandons_americas_common_welfare.html

    Also on the blog:

    https://www.princetonpolicy.com/ppa-blog

    If you’d like to sign up on the email distribution list, you can do so at info@princetonpolicy.com Not everything I write is published at a media outlet. Those on the distribution list will also receive limited circulation pieces.

    1. pgl

      Sorry dude but your pathetic attempt at self promotion is going to fail as everyone here has figured out that the American Thinker is misnamed. It is more a publication vehicle for insane right wing rants like the garbage you write.

    2. pgl

      After several paragraphs of obvious drivel (what a waste of space) we finally see this:

      ‘Before the war, I had suggested that territorial disputes between Russia and Ukraine could be resolved if Russia paid a large sum to Ukraine to acquire the Donbas and Crimea in a voluntary transaction. On paper, such an arrangement could still work. ‘

      You truly do not get Putin – do you? And you also would sell out Ukraine’s territorial rights for $$$. Pathetic sell out who keeps promoting the dumbest idea I have ever seen.

      People – do not waste your precious time reading this worthless garbage. DAMN!

    3. pgl

      Ah yes – claiming that there is some Biden Doctrine where we do not stand up to tyrants. That is so pathetically dishonest on its face. Yea – I wasted my time reading both of your pathetic pieces of manure. I would say you are a total moron but I’m the stupid one who clicked on those two worthless links.

    4. Baffling

      That link to the biden doctrine was simply garbage steven. If that is the type of source that informs your worldview, nobody should ever use you as a consultant. I am quite surprised you would put up such a link.
      Just a simple point in response. Biden has conducted the largest attack on russia in modern history. The economic sanctions are an economic war. We fought a cold war for decades before economically bankrupting the soviet union. Biden and the west will do this to russia in weeks. And hopefully without the cost of a nuclear side show. Too many small thinkers in this world seem to believe the solution to this problem amounts to confronting a schoolyard bully. I have yet to find a school yard bully with a nuke in his pocket. That approach will only lead to a nuclear war. And nobody wins with that outcome.

      1. Ivan

        The brilliance of he Biden approach is that Russia will be permanently diminished. It’s a country with only 110 million people and a GDP about the size of Spains. Only its military has allowed it to pretend its a world power.

        Now Biden has proven to the world that Russia has no answer to anti-tank and anti-air missile weapons. The only thing they have is to attack long distance with missiles – an incredibly inefficient strategy, that doesn’t gain territory. Terror bombing of civilians is actually counterproductive if your goal is to take over the country.

        The longer this conflict goes on, the less threatening Russia will appear in the eyes of the rest of the world. In addition, the more their military and economy will be degraded. Putin’s strategy of dividing Europe has been demolished. Europe had united behind the US strategy for dealing with Putin. He is isolated and slowly sinking down to where he belongs. Way to go Biden – competent leadership matters.

  7. rsm

    《Maybe assuming Putin does not take out the family of the defecting soldier. I guess you think Putin is too nice of a fellow to do that.》

    Why not extend payments to families so they can migrate to somewhere safe?

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