...
Printing money is way worse than taxes, since it devalues the currency.
Funny how all Western governments do both...
The West (Mostly USA) played geopolitical games with the lives of millions of innocent Ukrainians, and we are seeing the result when their bluff gets called.
Putin is not a good guy, but pushing Ukraine to join Nato was mind bending idiocy from the start.
It's like if the USSR installed a puppet government in Mexico, and was in talks with them to join the Eastern Block during the Cold war - We would freak out, and wouldn't have it.
Kinda like the whole Cuban missile Crisis thing...
Honestly, what did they think Putin was going to do? He was not going to have Nato troops and weaponry on his border.
Putin is all in.
He has to come out on top. Overthrow our western puppet government in the Ukraine, and install his puppet government. With a newly formed 100% Russian friendly republic on his border. He will not annex anything, because he wants the buffer states between him and Nato.
The only thing that makes sense was that they actually thought Putin was bluffing, and when he backed down the not-president would then get great photo-ops for "standing up to Putin'.
I will be surprised if this isn't all wrapped up by this time next week...