This is John Batshire, and a happy conversation with Michael Bernstum of Hoover Institution about

Russia under the sanctions. It occurred to me after we'd finished our conversation.

To go back and ask one more question, when does Russia run out of money? The spend down,

the shortfall in oil revenues, the collapse of the consumer society. It all eventually comes to

zero or less in the Kremlin. When? Here's Michael's response. That's a big question,

and what they have now, because of the budget deficit, the only source of financing is their

sovereign wealth fund. The same Saudi Arabia and others accumulated money from past sales of oil.

That's what it is. And they have about 155 billion, and they have now about

a hundred billion dollars of dollar terms of budget deficit. So it should last about a year and a

half. But the problem is that no longer it is dollars and British pounds and Japanese yen.

It is Chinese RMB, and so the willingness of banks and private depositors to purchase

Chinese assets is questionable. So it may be less than a year and a half. So, if

it's medical, yes, they have money to finance the budget deficit, all other things being

equal or a year and a half. But thanks may change. All right, maximum 2025.

I'm John Bachelor.