MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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Russia Delivers a New Shock to Crimean Business: Forced Nationalization
By EmmaZahn on Thu, 11/20/2014 - 9:02am |Business in Crimea has taken a beating since the peninsula’s annexation by Russia. Crimea’s tourism industry collapsed, and companies were cut off from vital suppliers and customers in Ukraine. Now comes the latest blow: nationalization.
From bakeries to shipyards, Crimea’s Kremlin-backed government is moving aggressively to take over businesses that it deems “inefficient,” strategically important, or friendly to the government in Kiev.
URL:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-18/crimea-gets-renationalized
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Comments
I wonder how the Putin apologists at FiredogLake will treat this one. Aside from ignoring it.
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 9:40am
In the US these companies would have been rewarded and their bosses would have received bonuses. Capitalists worship private property but only their private property, they will take your property using the laws they write and call it progress.
It is so easy to get Amerikans to start twitching with this type of propaganda because they are so indoctrinated to believe their property is secure under Capitalist control, miss a couple of house payments and see what happens.
Putin and the Russian Ruling Class also worship Capitalism and these nationalizations are the smart way to reorganize failing or corrupt businesses that will return to private hands or public/private partnerships in the future.
by Peter (not verified) on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 11:16am
Your example of failing to pay in a mortgage agreement shoots your argument in the foot. The bank owns the house until you complete the deal.
As for the benefits of nationalization you subscribe to, it is hard to imagine anything more corrupt.
by moat on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 12:47pm
" these nationalizations are the smart way to reorganize failing or corrupt businesses that will return to private hands or public/private partnerships in the future."
so you never looked at patterns of nationalization / confiscation of property in communist countries? if it does revert from state-owned, it's to some crap-filled nepotistic relationship, whether the crony Soviet-style state favors or the Chinese half-military business ventures. I've never heard either referred to as "the smart way to reorganize", and have seen more than enough indications of how badly inefficient they are.
[there were several state "nationalizations" in my family, along with other classic examples I've seen of the state absconding with factories and such that almost never turned out well. Strangely enough, Hugo Chavez's nationalization seems to have produced some good and reduced poverty - something that can't be much claimed in most cases, and certainly not Russia]
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 6:41pm
This story wasn't designed to enlighten or inform, it was designed to frighten the rubes and add to the MSM hysteria about Russia.
Whatever your feelings about the usefulness of State ownership of industry Russia is a much more prosperous place since Putin stopped and in some cases reversed the privatization in that country after the breakup of the USSR.
Putin is no Socialist, these moves are defensive not revolutionary and he is certainly no Hugo Chavez who was a true Socialist revolutionary. Putin appears to me to want to share, with the US, in managing the New World Order as an equal partner. The US Hegemon does not wish to share its power and control only dictate to Satraps so the conflict will continue.
by Peter (not verified) on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 7:49pm
duplicate comment removed
by artappraiser on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 8:22pm
Your criticism rings hollow because Peracles wasn't really talking about socialism at all, rather, he used terminology like crony Soviet-style state favors or the Chinese half-military business ventures....
Or maybe you would like to argue that crony capitalism is good for the Russian people?
Whatever the case, I, for one, don't find a story like this "frightening," I do find it more informative than most stories in say, Huffington Post, and I don't think it is hysterical of a publication called Bloomberg Businessweek to report on nationalizations going on in its section called "Global Economics." I think that is exactly the kind of material they should be covering. And I find myself wishing that more people would inform themselves of factual news like this and less on reports of Kim Kardashian's back side or political celebrity horse races and talking points or even lefty blogger rants about imperialists. If they did so, maybe they would do some thinking about how nationalization can be good in certain circumstances and human endeavors and bad in other instances.
by artappraiser on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 8:20pm
Some folks can do both. I found this thread to be quite informative.
Now about Putin's abs.
by Oxy Mora on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 4:12pm
Now about Putin's abs.
Excellent point! You have been following the numerous recent threads here concerning Putin's P.R., I presume. That or it's one of those things about smart peeps thinking alike.
by artappraiser on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 6:24pm
Did you see this shocking pic of Putin at the G20?
First of all he's wearing a shirt, unbelievable! And notice the animal is alive instead of being recently killed by Putin and the bloody carcass tossed over his shoulder.
by ocean-kat on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 6:41pm
duplicate deleted
by artappraiser on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 6:56pm
Show joy with cute animals and babies, classics for politicians trying to look humanoid. Fail: he should have gotten snapped with a baby koala. That would also have solved the hunting problem, as manly men hunters don't kill baby animals, only grown ones. But I've got to admit the facial expression is sweet, you wanna pinch his cheeks, he looks so cute and happy (the Putin, not the koala.)
by artappraiser on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 6:52pm
Don't know why but I keep thinking of that Bulgarian umbrella which injected KGB pellets into opponents. Maybe field testing a lapel pin device for use at big wig conferences.
by Oxy Mora on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 10:33pm
Hey. I did follow the PR and you are the peep so correct in your analysis there and on Prez.
Not sure why but I googled "manufactured persona" and what came up first is---T. Roosevelt.
In any event, Dems seem to be losing the PR battle and that's what I'm trying to explore.
Been streaming the Miami Book Fair for two days (don't have cable and Book T.V) which in my rural location is a real treat.
Cheers.
by Oxy Mora on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 10:24pm
I googled "manufactured persona" and what came up first is---T. Roosevelt.
Hey, I heard tell there's a bonafide expert on that topic right here on this website.
by artappraiser on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 10:45pm
" Russia is a much more prosperous place since Putin stopped and in some cases reversed the privatization in that country after the breakup of the USSR" -
go get 'em, tiger - of course Russia is more prosperous because the price of oil and gas skyrocketed after 9/11. And you can see Gazprom's price diving here - but nationalizing (read: stealing) Yukos and other big companies certainly made the Russian state wealthier. And it invested those savings in
social programsmilitary & police buildup. Can't eat bullets, can you?Gazprom diving. (sorry can't link the graphic)
Note: I'm of course not for the corrupt privatization that hit many ex-Communist states, nor not for the corrupt nationalization. I kinda like controlled capitalism with an obligation to support civil government and social institutions. Grand theft works against all of that.
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 9:48am
You are correct that energy prices have been largely responsible for improved conditions in Russia but that is not the only reason. If the energy sector was in private hands most of that windfall would be in offshore accounts and not used for social programs as it has been. There is also a huge reserve fund that will be used to delay the effects of lower oil prices for some time.
Imagine how much better off we might be if our corrupt Casino Banks and Oil Megapolies were nationalized.
Your vision of a Tamed Capitalism, while noble, is a fantasy. Capitalism is about profit and control and nothing else. Anything that threatens those principles will be destroyed including democracy and liberty.
by Peter (not verified) on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 11:31am
I'm so glad you believe Putin's words rather than his actions - must be comforting.
Apparently, the military & police buildup has been accompanied by attacks on the poor. No surprise that's not a headline on Russia Today.
Regarding "Tamed Capitalism" I never said such a thing - I said "controlled" - i.e. a continual fight to keep the mad genie in the bottle.
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 12:16pm
I do admire what Putin has done to confront the Hegemon and what he has done for the people of Russia but that does not mean that I think he or any other leader is the answer to the question of Capitalism.
Russia and the rest of the BRICS may not be as voracious as the US but they are still Capitalists whose ideology is destroying the world. The conflict we are seeing now is about dominance not ideology.
by Peter (not verified) on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 2:42pm
I'm gobsmacked - Putin leads a bunch of petro-yuppies devouring the world with an insatiable appetite. They aren't "confronting the Hegemon" - they make up part of the Hegemon that covers about 1/3 of the populated globe, if you include their continued domination of Turkic ex-Soviet lands. His reported $50 billion runaway show at Sochi was one of the tackiest ostentatious display of excess wealth & corruption to date. Putin's horridly primitive when it comes to dealing with Muslims, or anyone who simply isn't like him. What has he done for the people of Russia? put them on an unsustainable path of unfulfilled expectations. Watch as Crimea turns to shit rather than some Venice/Ibiza on the Black Sea. The Russian Bear demands respect as a remaining great power, but unlike Peter the Great who watched and learned from the West, Putin simply assumes anachronistic fear and unpredictability as his main bargaining chips. HIs silly 17-goal hockey game is as embarrassing as Yeltsin's falling-down-drunk stages.
I'd still like to know how Putin got Yeltsin to resign, leaving him as sudden heir-apparent. It's as nasty a business as Stalin quickening Lenin's demise, I'd bet. BTW - giving the Russians another Tsar who hangs onto power 15+ years is not exactly what they needed in a post-Soviet era.
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 3:30pm
You bringing up the Tsar Putin thing made me curious to see what was available visually. So I went to Google Images and what I found is that a Napoleon comparison seems to be more popular (Napoleon, of course, being the epitome of empire); two examples:
There's actually a lot of interesting comparisons to make once you think on it. For one example, Putin's relationship with and use of the Russian Orthodox Church vs. Napoleon's demand of bishops for an oath of fidelity to Empire. Both were/are sort of updates on the theme of "Holy Roman Empire." Where empire means a wholistic approach, including trying to control the culture as well as other facets of society.
by artappraiser on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 6:44pm
Until Peter (not verified) doubled down, I was assuming that he was being sarcastic, as in that they would "return to private hands" as part of crony capitalism. Poe's law wins again!
by Verified Atheist on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 4:01am