Nobody inside Russia can sell rubles and no one outside Russia wants to buy rubles.
How can you value something that is not transacting? The published “worth” of the ruble seems like a fiction.
Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
81–90 of 253 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#82I’m surprised I haven’t seen the right answers here yet, so I will chime in. 1. Russia produces 12% of the world's oil and has a similar share of global oil exports. [0] Those purchases are now being made in Rubels.[1] This was a direct retaliation to the USA and European sanction efforts. Before this oil was universally exchanged in USD or EUR. This has helped prop up the Rubel. 2. Russia moving back to a gold stand…
This answer is wrong from what I read
Not all countries are buying oil and gas in rubble, just the ones russia considers “unfriendly”. But even from those, russia isnt enforcing it. Germany has said it wouldn’t pay in ruble. US doesn’t buy anything from Russia. Hungary is paying in ruble.
By paying in ruble they create an artificial demand for the currency, making it worth more. However Russian government can make the same thing with the euro / dollars they receive from oil / gas purchase. The only reason they asked others pay in ruble is so they don’t have to do the conversion themselves because you know, with all the sanctions it is a pain to do it.
The price spikes in Russia didn’t go back after the currency stabilized, so regular Russians are still screwed
I’ve never seen anything about the gold standard thing, but even if it is true 1- gold price is also volatile and 2- there is a reason people moved away from gold standard
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
As is usually the case when monstrous plots are afoot, the villain cheerfully told the world exactly what he was planning to do and why. He wants to recreate the Soviet Union. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/22/putin-... Initial "peace proposals" from Russia included a rollback of NATO's military assistance to its 1997 condition, explicitly limiting the sovereignty of Poland and the Baltic states:…
Quoted post unavailable.
I don’t understand what “caretaker of Eurasia” is supposed to mean.
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#84Supply and demand. 1. Capital controls. Russians are legally not allowed to sell their Rubles anymore. This decreases supply and keeps prices up. 2. A healthy dose of foreign currency ($1B/day from Germany alone) gives the Russian central bank plenty of tools to buy Rubles and increase demand for it to keep prices up. This does not mean that the existing sanctions aren’t working. Eventually Russian factories will run…
Issue is that only the west is sanctioning them, not e.g. China. By sanctioning them we are just strengthening the Russia-China, India, etc. relationships. To think the world relies on the west to a point where its existential is a bit excessive, in my opinion
The issue is that Europe buys their energy from Russia.
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#85The value of a currency isn't exactly decided by what it is worth to Americans. Russia still has everything they had before the war, which is still as intrinsically valuable as ever & they are still willing to trade. They haven't changed their regulatory environment in crazy ways and haven't suffered major hits to their productive capacity. In some senses, it is difficult to see why a sanctions attack against Russia…
> I'd still buy Russian products after Ukraine Good to announce your cheerful complicity in mass murder on here so we know not to take you seriously.
If you pay taxes to a western government you are complicit in killing innocents all over the world. We just do with drones from an office park in Nevada.
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#86Doesn't make sense does it? Lies usually don't. The truth does make sense, but they don't want you to hear it. https://tomluongo.me/2022/03/28/got-gold-rubles-russia-just-...
I tried to read that but couldn't get over the conspiracy-theory-sounding language.
What are you even talking about?
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#87I’m surprised I haven’t seen the right answers here yet, so I will chime in. 1. Russia produces 12% of the world's oil and has a similar share of global oil exports. [0] Those purchases are now being made in Rubels.[1] This was a direct retaliation to the USA and European sanction efforts. Before this oil was universally exchanged in USD or EUR. This has helped prop up the Rubel. 2. Russia moving back to a gold stand…
please fix nytimes link
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#88Krugman looked this a few weeks ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/opinion/russia-ruble-econ...
tl;dr: Russia is propping up the Ruble with all the means at their disposal
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#89I’m surprised I haven’t seen the right answers here yet, so I will chime in. 1. Russia produces 12% of the world's oil and has a similar share of global oil exports. [0] Those purchases are now being made in Rubels.[1] This was a direct retaliation to the USA and European sanction efforts. Before this oil was universally exchanged in USD or EUR. This has helped prop up the Rubel. 2. Russia moving back to a gold stand…
This answer is wrong from what I read Not all countries are buying oil and gas in rubble, just the ones russia considers “unfriendly”. But even from those, russia isnt enforcing it. Germany has said it wouldn’t pay in ruble. US doesn’t buy anything from Russia. Hungary is paying in ruble. By paying in ruble they create an artificial demand for the currency, making it worth more. However Russian government can make th…
“US doesn’t buy anything from Russia.”
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/russian-oil-flows-but-incre...
“Germany has said it wouldn’t pay in ruble.“
True. Due to long term contracts in place, some oil is not purchased using rubles. Still, other European countries including Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Greece and others are purchasing in rubles. Also, India and China are purchasing a large amount of oil. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/who-is-still-buying-...
“By paying in ruble they create an artificial demand for the currency, making it worth more.”
The demand is not artificial. The demand is the damn. Europe still imports 27% of oil from Russia.
“However Russian government can make the same thing with the euro / dollars they receive from oil / gas purchase. “
This is false. They cannot “do the same thing with the euro / dollars”.
“The only reason they asked others pay in ruble is so they don’t have to do the conversion themselves because you know, with all the sanctions it is a pain to do it.”
Again, false. They are deliberately increasing the value of the ruble.
“I’ve never seen anything about the gold standard thing”
https://seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4498704-russias-3-step-...
Re: Ask HN: Why did the ruble stabilize and what's going on?
#90I’m surprised I haven’t seen the right answers here yet, so I will chime in. 1. Russia produces 12% of the world's oil and has a similar share of global oil exports. [0] Those purchases are now being made in Rubels.[1] This was a direct retaliation to the USA and European sanction efforts. Before this oil was universally exchanged in USD or EUR. This has helped prop up the Rubel. 2. Russia moving back to a gold stand…
please fix nytimes link