In addition to triggering the Great Bifurcation of the world into two economic blocs, the US response to the Russo-NATO war in Ukraine is likely to bring an end to the age of the free movement of capital.
Washington is not planning to return the assets confiscated from Russian businessmen as part of the latest sanctions imposed on Moscow over the military operation in Ukraine, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday.
“Our goal is not to give them back,” Sullivan said at the Economic Club of Washington, adding that the US authorities would use the seized assets “in a better way.”
“There are authorities we have, and there are further authorities that maybe we could develop, and that’s something we’re actively looking at,” the official added.
The White House has introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow since February 24, when Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began. As part of the penalties, the US authorities arrested Russian foreign assets along with those belonging to the country’s businesses and high-profile individuals.
How good do your project returns in a given jurisdiction have to be in order to justify the risk of having all of your property seized simply because the politicians in that jurisdiction don’t approve of the actions of your government?
It’s a little bizarre that we’re not hearing any neoclassical economists or libertarians talking about this, when it’s quite possibly one of the most significant developments to take place. And this isn’t just a theoretical observation, as a major Chinese oil company is already selling off its assets in Australia, Canada, and the USA as it terminates its operations in the West.