Global Market Watch for May 6th, 2014
Banks Close in Donetsk – A Lesson for the Rest of Us
What is happening in Donetsk is by the classic book on how to wipe out an economy. The banking system has shut down. The banks simply have said it is too dangerous for their staff to work. The only way to get any money is using a bank card but that will soon run out. Ukraine’s biggest bank, Privatbank, says the situation in the eastern cities of Donetsk and Lugansk has reached a critical point that is too dangerous for staff to go to work. ATM and branch services have been shut down. Elderly who relied upon pensions from the state just do not know what will happen now.
This is a warning of what can happen in the middle of an economic crisis in the modern era. With everyone relying upon government handouts and the dwindling supply of actual real physical paper money (cash), we can easily end up in a situation of barter.
Spring Maybe in the Air – But there is also the Scent of War
There seems to be a real hatred of Ukrainians building among the Russian extremists. On Facebook, there are forums with hit lists of Ukrainians to be killed. Russian extremists/terrorists discuss on their forum which Ukrainians they will kill next. They publish names, addresses, phone numbers even.
The reasoning seems to be geared to kill “activists of the Maidan”, anyone who “wears vyshyvanka (national Ukrainian shirt)”, or ”puts Ukrainian flag back” etc… The last line says “not me created this data base, but these are real addresses. You may complain to United Nations, but we will bury all these fascists”.
There are reports that the Ukrainian consulate in Hamburg was vandalized by pro-Russians. This is warning that a deep-seated resentment between East and West is rising. In Washington, there are people saying they have to start exporting energy to Europe in greater quantity to break the Russian energy grip on Europe.
The tensions are rising on both sides. This does not look very promising for the Cold War seems to be edging closer and close to red-hot. There maybe the feeling of Spring in the Air, but there is also the scent of War.
Why there is such hatred between East and West is really a paradox. It is nothing truly current in differences, just that there seems to be a lot of baggage from the past.