4 ms·

> If you want to harm the Russian government, one way to do that is through a brain drain, so make that easy. I'm doubtful of that. I think an authoritarian go

by jolmg 5y ago

> If you want to harm the Russian government, one way to do that is through a brain drain, so make that easy. I'm doubtful of that. I think an authoritarian government might benefit from a brain drain. Even if a brain drain were desirable, there's no way the effectiveness of that outweighs the harm to the economy that the cutoff by Visa/Mastercard would have.

tablespoon 5y ago
> Even if a brain drain were desirable, there's no way the effectiveness of that outweighs the harm to the economy that the cutoff by Visa/Mastercard would have. My understanding is that the cutoff only affects 1) foreign cards in Russia and 2) Russian cards outside of Russia, because domestic Russian credit card transactions are cleared with a different (domestic) system. So it mainly affects tourists and expats, and probably has minimal impact on the domestic economy.
- jolmg 5y ago
  > 2) Russian cards outside of Russia, because domestic Russian credit card transactions are cleared with a different (domestic) system. So it mainly affects tourists and expats, and probably has minimal impact on the domestic economy. Wouldn't that also affect online transfers that cross their border? For example, their international purchases and payment of services, and also their receipt of payments from international employers or clients.
ivan_gammel 5y ago
Brain drain when combined with other sanctions makes more difficult the transition to autarky. There are plenty of things that Russia relied on and needs to quickly design and manufacture locally. Cutoff by Visa and Mastercard has zero impact on local economy. They do not handle local transactions for their branded cards. But indeed, they made life much more difficult for a hundred thousand Russians who are fleeing the country at the moment.

4 ms·

> If you want to harm the Russian government, one way to do that is through a brain drain, so make that easy. I'm doubtful of that. I think an authoritarian go

by jolmg 5y ago

tablespoon 5y ago
> Even if a brain drain were desirable, there's no way the effectiveness of that outweighs the harm to the economy that the cutoff by Visa/Mastercard would have. My understanding is that the cutoff only affects 1) foreign cards in Russia and 2) Russian cards outside of Russia, because domestic Russian credit card transactions are cleared with a different (domestic) system. So it mainly affects tourists and expats, and probably has minimal impact on the domestic economy.
- jolmg 5y ago
  > 2) Russian cards outside of Russia, because domestic Russian credit card transactions are cleared with a different (domestic) system. So it mainly affects tourists and expats, and probably has minimal impact on the domestic economy. Wouldn't that also affect online transfers that cross their border? For example, their international purchases and payment of services, and also their receipt of payments from international employers or clients.
ivan_gammel 5y ago
Brain drain when combined with other sanctions makes more difficult the transition to autarky. There are plenty of things that Russia relied on and needs to quickly design and manufacture locally. Cutoff by Visa and Mastercard has zero impact on local economy. They do not handle local transactions for their branded cards. But indeed, they made life much more difficult for a hundred thousand Russians who are fleeing the country at the moment.