The Crimean parliament has unanimously voted to nationalize the assets of Ukrainian oligarchs and politicians on the peninsula, RIA Novosti news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the State Council’s press service.
Zelensky’s penthouse seized in Crimea
Related:
Russia says it has seized ‘drug addict’ Zelensky’s Crimean flat | AFP
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that some Chinese buyers have allegedly paused their import of Russian oil ahead of the West’s looming price cap on that resource, which if true would be very revealing in the context of that country exploring the parameters of a New Détente with the US. According to them, those buyers supposedly want to see if they can get better deals from Moscow after the price cap enters into effect, thus signaling opportunistic and not necessarily unfriendly intentions.
China’s Reported Pause Of Russian Oil Imports Ahead Of The West’s Price Cap Is Revealing
Everyone pays the cost as the rich keep spending
Meanwhile, the Biden White House is doing what it can to buffer inflationary pain for working people. It has been releasing strategic petroleum reserves in a partly successful effort to lower prices at the pump, extending pandemic-era caps on some student loan payments and pushing for antitrust action in areas where corporate concentration (which has grown hand in hand with financialisation) may be responsible for some inflationary pressure.
But more changes are needed. The success of corporate lobbyists in overturning efforts to roll back carried interest loopholes are shameful. Student debt forgiveness — no matter how generous it is — will not change the fact that the cost of four years of private university in the US (an elastic cost that can be bid up indefinitely by the global rich) is nearly double the median family income. Housing markets continue to cry out for major reform.
I suspect it will take a younger generation to push through these sorts of systemic changes. They simply don’t have as much asset wealth to protect.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 