83: Russian Economic Stagnation and War Finance. Michael Bernstam confirms that the Russian economy is stagnating, expecting no growth for years due to exhausted resources and reliance on military production. Oil and gas revenues are down significantly due to

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 13 November 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Russian Economic Stagnation and War Finance. Michael Bernstam confirms that the Russian economy is stagnating, expecting no growth for years due to exhausted resources and reliance on military production. Oil and gas revenues are down significantly due to Western sanctions and high discounts, widening the budget deficit. Russia is increasing taxes, including the VAT, which drives inflation in staples. This economic pain damages the popularity of the war by hurting the low-income population—the primary source of military recruitment.

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0:00.0	This is CBS, I On the World. I'm John Batchel. I welcome my colleague Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover
0:07.6	Institution writing his column at RealColar Politics about the Republican Party, since William F. Bugley
0:13.5	proposed that the Republican Party is a blend, capital B, blend. Sometimes the metaphor of Big Tent is used, I retire that momentarily because
0:25.4	Big Tent is not articulate enough for the many strains that make up the Republican Party.
0:31.5	Such as, John, all right, it's 1854.
0:34.3	The Republican Party has men of high moral stature, Mr. Seward of New York, for example,
0:42.0	who have been condemning slavery for years and they're frustrated.
0:47.2	They want to grow in popularity and size to challenge the Democratic Party, which is self-confidently dominated by the southern representatives,
0:58.0	the southern senators. One way to do that is to bring in minor parties. One of them is the
1:03.7	no-nothings. The no-nothings were associated with violence, especially violence against Roman Catholics.
1:10.5	It was unacceptable to talk about
1:13.2	no-nothings in polite circles. That's why they were called no-nothing. When asked, are you a member
1:17.5	of, you say no-nothing. But the Republicans brought them in in 54 and in 56, the no-nothings attended
1:25.7	the Philadelphia Convention, where they nominated John Fremont,
1:29.8	the No-Nothings and the Republicans who saw themselves as moving towards Liberty Party,
1:36.0	which had been another small strain that wanted abolition of slavery now.
1:41.6	All of that left Abraham Lincoln available in 1860 to win the presidency,
1:47.5	and therein is American history. All right. The reason I use this example, Peter, is because
1:52.8	I don't think anybody doubts that Abraham Lincoln was a good thing to come out of a blend that
1:58.9	included something unacceptable in the party.
2:03.1	We're now seeing this same kind of quandary in the Republican Party, and you guide me to learn
2:10.1	about Mr. Buckley's opinion of the party. This is from the 50s and 60s. How does it inform
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