Plantagenet wrote:Putin and other Russian government leaders have about 2 billion dollars documented in the Panama Papers.
The documentation does not support that Putin has 2bln in Panama. Which is what the US sanctions might have an impact on. I assure you; that while Putin, like all pols, is filthy rich, his money is NOT hidden in Panama. Its mostly in Russia, and to a certain extent, I'd bet on an account or two in Shanghai.
I thought the US put sanctions on Putin and the other Russian leaders after Russia invaded Crimea? The US sanctions must be pretty toothless if the Russian leadership has looted and transferred billions to the tax havens in Panama.
We did. But sanctions against a country that is both a food calorie and fossil fuel exporter with substantial industrial base is more a nuisance than a problem. And *ANYTHING* Russia doesn't make, I guarantee you that China can make; and China doesn't do economic sanctions; and even if they said they'd do them; they'd cheat so bad it'd make the whole thing look like an incredible farce.
So its not so much that the US sanctions are "toothless"; but rather, there's really not much available for the teeth to bite on.
Put this in a diplomatic pouch and deposit it in my bank vault in Panama.
lol. The gold is Russian state reserves; and they are buying gold at an insane rate, near to what China buys.. but there's a reason. Ruble market is shallow; and floating the renminbi is turning out to be very challenging. (Russia is not import dependent, but China *IS* hugely dependent on energy imports; so rapid fluctuation in renminbi value is not a nuisance but rather a disaster.
Solution? Bob the Russian knows how much gold he can buy, in Russia, for 10k ruble. Joe da Han knows how many renminbi will buy the same amount of gold in China. Both banks build up huge gold reserves; setup balanced forex accounts between them, in gold. All of a sudden, Joe can buy oil from Bob, and Bob can buy smartphones from Joe; and they can both use their own domestic currency, *AND* be assured of getting fair value for their purchases and sales.
And I'll state it again; Russia + China is the one thing, above all else, we should have worked to stop; and we took a welding torch and sealed them together, probably for the rest of the century at least. They have exactly what the other needs; in huge surplus.