๐บ๐ธ $700 B
๐ช๐บ $200 B
๐จ๐ณ $200 B
๐ฎ๐ณ $70 B
๐ฌ๐ง $60 B
๐ฏ๐ต $50 B
๐ฆ๐บ $40 B
Hmm. OK. Economic output next โฆ /1.
โBigโ.
Annual economic output (GDP, round numbers):
๐บ๐ธ $20 T
๐ช๐บ $ 15 T
๐จ๐ณ $ 15 T
๐ฏ๐ต $ 5 T
๐ฎ๐ณ $ 3 T
๐ฌ๐ง $ 2 T
๐ฆ๐บ $ 1.3 T
Hmm, again. What about population? โฆ /2.
โBigโ.
Population (round numbers).
๐จ๐ณ 1,400 M
๐ฎ๐ณ 1,400 M
๐ช๐บ 450 M
๐บ๐ธ 330 M
๐ฏ๐ต 125 M
๐ฌ๐ง 70 M
๐ฆ๐บ 25 M
Alright, letโs check out the land areas โฆ /3.
โBigโ.
Size of land territory (round numbers).
๐บ๐ธ 10 M km2
๐จ๐ณ 10 M km2
๐ฆ๐บ 8 M km2
๐ช๐บ 4 M km2
๐ฎ๐ณ 3 M km2
๐ฏ๐ต 0.4 M km2
๐ฌ๐ง 0.2 M km2
Thatโs all for now. /4. End
P.S. Apologies to Tom Hanks, Penny Marshall, Gracie Films & 20th Century Fox. โBigโ is not intended to refer to your motion picture work of art. (The only connection, perhaps, is the performative aspect of both the movie & current UK politics).
Sorry: ๐ฌ๐ง should be $3T, about equal with ๐ฎ๐ณ
โข โข โข
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Russiaโs in the news again. As is the re-emergence of a fantasy, from Germany & France, of a western โresetโ with President Putin. The UK has been guilty of the same. So has the US. President Biden looks to be clearer sighted. No more wishful thinking, please. A (long)๐งต /1.
That requires a realistic assessment of Russia as it is, not as some members of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance might hope it to be. And clarity about what needs to be done, & how, to protect & promote Alliance interests. /2.
Understand what youโre dealing with. Russia is run by the people who own it. Principally an elite of a few dozen people, largely dominated by ex-KGB officials with a world view formed during Soviet days. Vladimir Putin is at the apex & calls the shots. /3.
.@DavidGHFrost appeared before @TomTugendhat & @CommonsForeign yesterday, together with one of his most senior civil servants, the Director-General of the EU Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. You donโt need a body-language expert in order to understand how it went. /1.
President Bidenโs visit, & the newspaper front pages which accompany it (next tweet), bring into sharp focus the realities of current geopolitical power ๐
The Chancellor, PM & even the Bank Governor can, if they wish, propagate the fiction that UK govt deficit spending in GBยฃ creates โdebtโ which needs to be โpaid backโ; that theyโre not in complete control of the interest rate; that a necessary requirement for controlling โฆ/1.
โฆ inflation is interest rate rises; & that huge, non-inflationary deficit spending is not only entirely available to them but also essential, if weโre to look after the well-being & prosperity of the UK population.
They can pretend all that. /2.
But theyโd be dissembling. Or just plain wrong. Take your pick.
That in turn throws into question whether the current legal & constitutional arrangements represent the settled โwill of the peopleโ in Scotland.
And, if they donโt, whether theyโre sustainable. /2.
Brexit, the subsequent shift toward greater support for Scottish independence, the Scottish parliamentary majority achieved ob 6 May for an independence referendum, & the local rebellion against Home Office officials in Glasgow, all suggest not. /3.