Ukraine’s military has become heavily dependent on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network for battlefield communications and drone operations. They have invested relationship-specific sunk costs into SpaceX’s satellite communications platform. According to a new Wall Street Journal report, Elon Musk ordered restrictions on a military version of the service last week, disrupting Ukrainian offensive and defensive drone…
Starlink Holdup?
Starlink Holdup?
23 Oct 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
Vladimir Putin and western hypocrisy
21 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Ukraine, Iraq, Russia, Afghanistan, economics of colonialism
Reading the final chapters of Orlando Figes’ excellent and highly readable history of Russia, about the rise of Vladimir Putin and the lead-up to the war with Ukraine, I found myself growing more sympathetic to Putin’s accusations of western hypocrisy, and began to make a list of examples. Putin is a dangerous monster, but sometimes […]
Vladimir Putin and western hypocrisy
Trump’s Plan To Buy Russian Diesel Would Violate Federal Law
15 Oct 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, energy economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Russia, sanctions, Ukraine
If laws passed by Congress do not apply to presidential actions, then we no longer live in a democracy.
Trump’s Plan To Buy Russian Diesel Would Violate Federal Law
The Allocative Cost of War
13 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
Why is war so economically costly? Our answer is that modern war lowers output not only by destroying productive factors, but also by making the surviving economy work less efficiently. Using uniquely comprehensive firm-level data collected during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we document a dramatic collapse in allocative productivity in Ukraine. To…
The Allocative Cost of War
Trump, Putin, and the Game of Doing Nothing: This Week in Dumb Diplomacy
18 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, war and peace Tags: game theory, Russia, Ukraine
How is the Russian war economy doing?
08 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, development economics, economic growth, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, growth disasters, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, law and economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, property rights, Public Choice, war and peace Tags: Russia, Ukraine
Here is a gloomy account from Vladimir Mirov: Ruble depreciation will contribute to inflation even further, as Russia is continued to be heavily reliant on imports – this is a kind of self-sustaining spiral. I also strongly disagree with those who say that cheaper ruble is “good” for exporters and the budget. Exporters have yet […]
How is the Russian war economy doing?
Economic Sanctions on Russia: Ineffective or Insufficient?
19 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, international economic law, international economics, International law, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Russia, sanctions, Ukraine
Russia had of course already invaded Ukraine back in 2014, but in February 2022 it dramatically escalated the earlier invasion. The U.S. and Ukraine’s allies met Russia’s invasion two years ago with an unprecedented set of sanctions. They put a price cap on Russian oil exports, froze $300 billion worth of Russian foreign exchange reserves,…
Economic Sanctions on Russia: Ineffective or Insufficient?
THE SHOWMAN: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE INVASION THAT SHOOK THE WORLD AND MADE A LEADER OUT OF VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY by Simon Shuster
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
(Ukrainian President Zelensky visting troops at the front) As the war grinds on in Ukraine, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson remains adamant that he will not bring to the House floor for a vote a bi-partisan bill negotiated by Democratic and Republican senators that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and funds to […]
THE SHOWMAN: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE INVASION THAT SHOOK THE WORLD AND MADE A LEADER OUT OF VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY by Simon Shuster
Oh Canada: Government Blocks Citizenship Due to Russian Conviction for Criticizing the Ukrainian War
07 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, political correctness, refugees, regressive left, Russia, Ukraine
I have long been a critic of Prime Minister Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who has devastated free speech in that country while assuming sweeping authoritarian powers. Now, his administration has blocked the citizenship of Maria Kartasheva because she has a conviction in Russia. The crime? Free speech. Kartasheva was convicted in Russian for criticizing…
Oh Canada: Government Blocks Citizenship Due to Russian Conviction for Criticizing the Ukrainian War
Guaranteed Artillery Contracts: A Shortcut to End the War?
26 Jul 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
Why the U.S. Is Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine: A Tale of Excess Stocks and Evolving Strategy
17 Jul 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
What Is the Risk of Disaster at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant?
12 Jul 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, energy economics, war and peace Tags: atomic energy, Ukraine
The Element of Surprise: Why the Wagner’s Mutiny Fell Apart
05 Jul 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
Ukraine’s Counteroffensive: Three Interpretations to Lift the Fog of War
02 Jul 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Ukraine
Wagner Opera: Coup Prospects and the Fate of the War
26 Jun 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Russia, Ukraine
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