There is just one more thing to add. Namely, why it needs to happen like this. Why Russia can't just say "you know what, this financial system is unstable and we're pulling out". And that's because it will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's a well-documented phenomenon - rumors spread that a bank is about to go under. As a result, people withdraw their cash from it, so it loses all liquidity and ability to operate. As a result, it goes under.

Now, apply this to the international scale, and it's a situation that even the Russians don't want; neither do the Chinese or the Indians. A financial crisis is one thing, but when the whole system gets shaken all at once, it becomes dangerous, even to nominally independent parties. Even Russia barely survived the 90s mobster reign of terror after the Union collapsed, and if something similar happens in the west, the fallout might as well be nuclear for all the damage it would do.

So instead, this grand theatrical gambit is played, where national economies are amicably separated under false pretenses, and each side will in fact boast its financial resilience, citing... whatever crap suits their audience. And the game continues for another turn. The only question I'm pondering is whether the head pieces after 2024 will still be Trump and Putin, or their possible spiritual successors. But that one's for time to tell.

There is just one more thing to add. Namely, why it needs to happen like this. Why Russia can't just say "you know what, this financial system is unstable and we're pulling out". And that's because it will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's a well-documented phenomenon - rumors spread that a bank is about to go under. As a result, people withdraw their cash from it, so it loses all liquidity and ability to operate. As a result, it goes under.

Now, apply this to the international scale, and it's a situation that even the Russians don't want; neither do the Chinese or the Indians. A financial crisis is one thing, but when the whole system gets shaken all at once, it becomes dangerous, even to nominally independent parties. Even Russia barely survived the 90s mob rule after the Union collapsed, and if something similar happens in the west, the fallout might as well be nuclear for all the damage it would do.

So instead, this grand theatrical gambit is played, where national economies are amicably separated under false pretenses, and each side will in fact boast its financial resilience, citing... whatever crap suits their audience. And the game continues for another turn. The only question I'm pondering is whether the head pieces after 2024 will still be Trump and Putin, or their possible spiritual successors. But that one's for time to tell.