Joseph Stiglitz asks Europeans to stop buying Russian oil and gas

The speed and intensity of the economic and financial sanctions decided against Russia will make them effective, but Europe must stop buying Russian oil and gas, said Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stiglitz.

“The capacity [de Rusia] to make war will be altered” for the repercussions on its economy of the sanctions, considered the economist on the sidelines of a conference on “the future of Europe” on Paris.

“They lost significant amounts of military equipment and will have to replace it. But do they have the industrial and financial capacity? It is debatable”.

One of the main elements of the potential success of sanctions is “the speed with which they were imposed”.

“If applied gradually, [los rusos] They can adapt.” points out Stiglitzwho salutes the speed with which the Europeans acted since the invasion of Ukraine.

However, consider “hard” to know if the impact of the sanctions on the Russian population and the oligarchs could push Vladimir Putin to relax his position on Ukraine and the conflict he started.

“There is so much disinformation propaganda, that Russian citizens blame the West and not Putin” of the sanctions they suffer, such as restrictions on imports, the departure of some foreign companies or the devaluation of the ruble.

But consider that the Europeans “They should stop buying Russian oil and gas”which make it easier for the regime to finance its war in Ukraine.

According to him, the impact “could be compensated” “sharing the load” among European states more or less dependent on Russian gas.

The European Union (EU) rules out for now to stop buying Russian gas and oil, a measure that the administration has already taken Biden on United States. Some countries, like Germany or the baltic states, that import more than half of their gas from RussiaThey don’t have a short-term alternative.

Europe and the United States could do “enormous pressure on Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and easing sanctions against Iran and Venezuela to obtain oil supplies” supplementary, says the economist.

“Disproportionate” concern about inflation

Europe and the United States must “do what they can to protect countries and individuals, who are the most affected” by sanctions on its own territory.

“In some democracies, there are groups that suffer [por las sanciones] and they could demonstrate, as well as political parties that could take advantage of it” of these protests, he warns, which is why he advocates common action on budgets at the EU level.

The former economic adviser to the former US president bill clinton said earlier in the conference that the position of China it will also be crucial to ensure the effectiveness of sanctions.

China’s support for Russia worries the United States. The Cwhite handle I affirm that “clearly signaled to China that we will not stand by and do nothing”if a country provides assistance to Russia.

China stated that it does not want “be affected by sanctions”to which “opposes”.

In the context of sanctions and the acceleration of inflation, in particular in energy and raw material prices, due to the war in ukrainethe Nobel Prize of economy 2001 considers “disproportionate” concern, because it considers that this phenomenon will be “temporary”.

“From a political point of view, it is a problem”, said. But “there is no economic reason to worry about an inflation level of 5% or 6%, and even 7% or 8%”he points out.

Stiglitz pointed out that the conditions are not right for a vicious circle of rising prices and wages to form, and that the markets anticipate, on the contrary, a drop in inflation in the medium term.