The Economist, in what appears to be an unsigned editorial on Oct. 30, headlines: “Why Funding Ukraine Is a Giant Opportunity for Europe. The bill will be huge. It is also a historic bargain.”
After reviewing all the reasons why Ukraine is losing the war and why Europe is collapsing and bankrupt, it argues that this as a great opportunity, with two needed results:
First, we can bankrupt and destroy Russia: “The first is a financial commitment that can expose and amplify the Kremlin’s long-term weakness. Russia has lost the lives of 200,000-500,000 troops—double the figure for Ukraine. It is also bearing a heavy financial burden on its own. Declared defence spending will hit $160 billion in 2025, and state-run banks have also engaged in an immense off-budget lending spree to support the military-industrial complex. It is true that sanctions in 2022 failed to bring Russia to its knees as some had hoped. But Mr. Putin’s initial war boom has now given way to stagflation, with growth at almost zero, labour shortages, hidden bad debts, inflation of 8% and interest rates of 16.5%. Another half-decade of this would probably trigger an economic and banking crisis in Russia. If Europe can demonstrate to Russia that it will underwrite the war for at least that long, Mr. Putin will be cornered.”
