A few observations on the Western sanctions on russia this week. The US & EU sanctions are serious; the UK sanctions are a joke; the Canadian sanctions are missing. Why?

1. The most important sanctions for the economy are the financial sanctions - on state banks & public debt. The US took a big step & the EU is likely to follow. Idea: Force Russia to minimize its foreign debt so that it has less financial freedom. Well done, US & EU!

2. Today, the EU imposed export control of half the technology the US sells to Russia. Great! The rest of the West will be forced by the US to follow. The impact on Russian armament is bound to be great. China can do little to compensate and might not want to do so.

3a. The sanctions on elites continue to disappoint. The US sanctioned 6 sons of Putin's friends who have got outrageous top jobs. Good but little. The UK sanctioned 2 Putin cronies that the US sanctioned in 2014 and one in 2018. That is not serious.

3b. The EU sanctions of elite characters were novel: Higher & more relevant. Great that Defense Minister Shoigu & Putin's chief of staff were sanctioned; Shuvalov of VEB as systemic liberal but not liberal; Simonyan, Solovyov, Zakharova, Pushkov & Tolstoi - major propagandists.

The overall impression is that the US & the EU act in consort and the EU has become more radical after the UK exited. The UK seems to want to defend its Londongrad oligarchs. Is the tory party consumed by Russian money? Boris Johnson knighted Lord Lebedev...