Academics? Really?

I will soon begin to stutter from repeating a diagnosis--Western "leaders" and their "academe" are capable only of PR, period. They do not have real skills, knowledge or foresight. Now these "academics" are discovering what was told by many people with just common sense, forget about those, like Mr. Novak, who have serious experience and academic background in real things. 

Russia raked in significantly more money from its crude oil sales than previously thought, a group of academics have said. Russia took in more money in the weeks that followed the oil price cap implemented on December 5 last year, calculations from academics at the Institute of International Finance, Columbia University, and the University of California show. The calculations show that Russia sold its crude oil for about $74 per barrel on average, according to the paper “Assessing the Impact of International Sanctions on Russian Oil Exports” published on the Social Science Research Network.

For people whose skills do not reach beyond the realm of financial speculation at the Wall Street such a development may come as a surprise. A nasty one at that. You can download this paper here. 

Assessing the Impact of International Sanctions on Russian Oil Exports

It is a peculiar paper with the set of "recommendations" of what Larry calls "more cowbell". Same ol', same ol'--more sanctions, more restrictions and even lower cap. They DO grow them dumb in "academic" economics realm in the West. Suffice it to say that 99% of Western economics "oracles" predictions about Russia turned out to be utterly delusional. You cannot fix stupid. 

Daniel Davies, meanwhile, warns.

While it’s no secret that since 2013 I’ve argued – many times (including last month in these pages) – we place too much trust on our generals and turn too blind of an eye when they are proven disastrously wrong. With statements and claims made by a number of retired general officers leading up to Friday’s one-year mark in Russia’s war with Ukraine, however, it is more urgent than ever that the American public take what they say with more than a little skepticism. If our policymakers take the advice of these former high-ranking officers, America may find itself at war with Russia, shocked by a Ukrainian loss – or worst of all: sucked into a nuclear exchange with Russia.

Most American retired generals have been proven disastrously wrong most of the time because they do not know what modern war is and, also, because they never won shit in their lives. Come on, when you apply for credit card, let alone for mortgage, the first thing one checks is your credit history, and this is the right thing to do. What IS credit history of America's top brass since Vietnam? Larry summarized it very well in his latest: 

America’s Delusional Military Fantasy

Somebody needs to explain to Petraeus and Keane and the whole cabal of other political generals from US think tanks that military "history" they studied is not exactly a real one. But then again, with such an "academe" who would blame them for having learned nothing about real war. Or real economy, for that matter.