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Update on the State of the Russian Economy and Sanctions

Many of us are contemplating lessons over the last year following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine - I tackled some lessons about sanctions effectiveness and surprises in another post. This one addresses the state of play in Russia's economy and the outlook for sanctions. Overall, with the US government relatively satisfied with the oil price… Continue reading Update on the State of the Russian Economy and Sanctions

Some Lessons from the last year of War (and other global complications)

I like many others have been contemplating lessons learned in the year since February 24, the Russian renewed invasion of Ukraine, which took an ongoing conflict and took it to a whole new level. While its too early to tell all lessons, its a useful time to consider what we're learned about sanctions effectiveness, the… Continue reading Some Lessons from the last year of War (and other global complications)

One Year on, Assessing the Impacts of Russia’s War Against Ukraine: A Conversation with the Doorstep podcast

At the beginning of February, I had the chance to chat with the hosts of the Doorstep Podcast. Tetiana Serafin and Nick Gvosdev about the state of the global economy, the resilience of the Russian economy and the rerouting of global trade. An excerpt is below but you can watch or read the whole thing… Continue reading One Year on, Assessing the Impacts of Russia’s War Against Ukraine: A Conversation with the Doorstep podcast

Brazil in 2023: What to Watch for After January 8

The 8 January storming of Brazilian government buildings has exposed the divides present in Brazilian politics, and willingness of Bolsonaro supporters to use disruptive blockades. The economic and market impact will depend on whether there is additional disruption that might undermine Brazil’s critical infrastructure, how quickly the Lula government consolidates the security apparatus, whether the… Continue reading Brazil in 2023: What to Watch for After January 8

Thought-Provoking Reads 2022: Economics, Geopolitics and More

Annually I try to sum up the list of books that resonated this year or added new insight. This post shares a number focused on economic, geopolitical and historical narratives while a smattering of fiction and travel inspired reads are in another post. For once, almost all of the books that resonated this year were… Continue reading Thought-Provoking Reads 2022: Economics, Geopolitics and More

Thought provoking reads 2022: Fiction and Travel-Inspired

For the last few years, I've enjoyed ending the year by recapping some of the books that lingered with me and peppered my thoughts and conversation. This post highlights some favorites inspired by my travels this year to Turkey, Georgia and Italy and a few fiction volumes. While I read plenty of fiction this year,… Continue reading Thought provoking reads 2022: Fiction and Travel-Inspired

Update on the Russian Oil Price Cap: Deadlock on the “Price”

On, 25 November, EU officials have again failed to reach consensus on the price for Russian oil that would allow an exemption  from the EU ban on using its services to transport and sell Russian seaborne crude (aka the G7 price cap). Officials have agreed to resume talks next week, a week out from the 5… Continue reading Update on the Russian Oil Price Cap: Deadlock on the “Price”

Lessons from the Work of William T Ziemba

In early November, I was honored to speak at the Annual Quant Insights Conference hosted by the Certificate of Quantitative Finance about some of the work and legacy of my father William Ziemba who passed away earlier this year (obit here). Dad was an academic of stochastic programing and financial optimization who applied much of… Continue reading Lessons from the Work of William T Ziemba

Some thoughts on economic warfare and the range of coercive tools

The following is an adaptation of a presentation I made in early November on a panel about economic warfare for the Canadian Association of Security and Intelligence. Thanks for including me! The following will take an expansive view of economic restrictive measures which are increasingly being used for a variety of reasons political and national… Continue reading Some thoughts on economic warfare and the range of coercive tools