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[GreatJustice]

Hey, guys who know how macroeconomics work. Is it true that devaluation of national currency is good for export-oriented economy? I have heard that many times but suspect that this is not so simple

It's good for some people in the export-oriented economy, but not others. Basically, it decreases the costs of labour and certain materials in the country and increases the cost of imports, resulting in a relative benefit for exporters, who produce cheaply at home and can sell at a similarly cheap (competitive) price abroad. This is great for exporters, since they now have a competitive advantage by being able to sell at comparatively cheaper prices and gain market share. However, the benefits for the exporters comes at a cost to workers, who now make comparatively less, and anyone who imports materials and doesn't export enough to cover the costs (either because they produce things for local consumption or because they aren't a large enough business to substantially benefit compared to their increased material costs). If you go far enough with devaluation, you end up with a situation like China's, where your export industry has a large market share, but your workers are basically working for nothing because of inflation and you're very nearly selling to other countries at a loss.

Currency devaluation is basically another subsidy, which is to say that it's good for those being subsidized but not so good for the public at large.

[smjjames]

To be fair, the British Empire got defeated like five times in there, and it was at it's height of power.

Defeated once, then just the regular bloody stalemates Afghanistan is famed for with minor victories for the British. Afghanistan is pretty impressive as a country that has spent the last 2000 years bloodying world powers. Never occupy China, never invade Russia in winter, never invade Switzerland, above all never invade Afghanistan.

The Mongols occupied China in the form of the Yuan dynasty for almost 100 years, and that was after Ghenghis's empire fragmented.

And theres the 'Never fight a land war in Asia.'

[mainiac]

Hey, guys who know how macroeconomics work. Is it true that devaluation of national currency is good for export-oriented economy? I have heard that many times but suspect that this is not so simple

It's not mana from heaven but it promotes employment at the cost of buying power.

Suppose you have two countries, US (dollars) and Europe (euros).  The US embraces higher inflation than the Euro.  That means that the value of the Euro rises against the dollar.  So before you needed one dollar to trade for one euro, now you need 1.1 dollars to trade for one euro.

Now suppose you have a retailer who was importing 1000 euro widgets in Europe and selling them for $1500 in the US.  Before that meant importing for $1000 and selling for $1500, meaning $500 for expenses and profit.  Now it's only $400.  So it might not be a good idea to import those widgets.  Maybe you can get those widgets in the US or maybe you raise the price on widgets and buy fewer of them.  Either way, that's not good for imports from Europe.

What is good for Europe though is that if they are buying stuff from the US in return, that stuff just got 9% cheaper.  That means they can afford to buy 9% more of it and their standard of living just went up, for those who didn't lose their jobs exporting stuff.  Europe will also probably buy more US goods because they are cheaper, which is good for the US.

The win-win situation here emerges when one country is suffering from unemployment and the other country has low unemployment and high inflation.  In that case the unemployment country (lets say the US) can alleviate it's unemployment by exporting to the inflation country (lets say China).  The inflationary country fights inflation because the goods it was previously exporting are now available for domestic consumers.  Maybe the domestic consumers dont want those exact goods, but the labor and capital that was being used on those goods can be redirected towards domestic needs.

[WarRoot]

Selling stealth tanks to not-Ukraine:
https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/hungary-sells-t-72-tanks-to-026666/
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140828/192428716/Czech-Defense-Ministry-Unaware-of-Hungarian-T-72-Tanks-Purchase.html

[Guardian G.I.]

Spoiler: Satellite image of the strategic height of Saur-Mogila after the battle between DNR and Ukrainian forces earlier this month, showing the intensity of the fighting (click to show/hide)

Saur-Mogila is currently under DNR control. That tall object, the old Soviet WW2 memorial, is now a pile of rubble.

[Sergarr]

So many craters...

[Ukrainian Ranger]

That satellite image is from August 20. Now there are much more craters

[WarRoot]

Spoiler: Satellite image of the strategic height of Saur-Mogila after the battle between DNR and Ukrainian forces earlier this month, showing the intensity of the fighting (click to show/hide)

Could be repurposed as an awesome beginner golf course after the war is over.

That tall object, the old Soviet WW2 memorial, is now a pile of rubble.

That's actually quite symbolic.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Yes, Soviet ideology is dying in Ukraine... But it's agony is not a pleasant sight

[Loud Whispers]

Saur-Mogila is currently under DNR control. That tall object, the old Soviet WW2 memorial, is now a pile of rubble.

RIP you proud piece of ruins

[GreatJustice]

Pretty much every source I have has been saying that the DNR forces have decisively counterattacked and encircled huge pockets of Ukrainian regular forces that are slowly being whittled down by attrition and desertion. I wonder what would happen if they were successful enough to mount a full counterattack past the nominal Donetsk/Luhansk borders, since a lot of their strength seems to be in dominating their local forests and swamps.

EDIT: for reference for the relative success of their counterattack, compare

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

with

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Guardian G.I.]

There are conflicting reports about whether Mariupol is surrounded or not - at least one Western journalist present in the area claims that it is not.. Ukrainian sources like Liveuamap also claim that there are no DNR forces near the city.

I should also note that the maps in Greatjustice's post are created by DNR supporters and thus may not be actually accurate. Same thing applies to Ukrainian maps - beware of possible disinformation.

[Ghills]

In (not)Soviet Russia, mothers = foreign spies.   The Russian non-profit Soldier's Mothers has been declared a 'foreign' agent after stating that Russian soldiers (i.e. their sons) have been fighting, getting injured, and being killed, fighting in Ukraine.   Putin had the law amended to allow him to declare NGOs 'foreign agents' at will recently.   There's also reports that

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/justice-ministry-adds-2-more-ngos-to-foreign-agents-list/506142.html
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/russian-ngo-branded-as-foreign-agent-after-reporting-on-russian-military-action-in-ukraine

Also, Russian journalists are reporting secret military funerals for Russian paratroopers, and that they were threatened and attacked while investigating. http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-journalists-attacked-20140827-story.html

U.S. and Ukrainian officials are reporting full-scale invasions by Russian troops.   http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/28/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/

[mainiac]

So saying Russian troops are in Ukraine makes you a traitor to Russia but the separatists openly brag about the Russian troops backing them up.

[smjjames]

The secret funeral stuff sounds like something right out of the cold war.