Posted by Phù Vân (136..98.176) on January 05, 2023 at 06:41:09:
Investors often watch the markets and the economy. But in this day and age, you might also want to pay attention to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine — because the consequences could be dire.
After reports emerged last fall that Russian officials spoke of using tactical nuclear weapons, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” hasn’t been this high in 60 years.
“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he said at a Democratic fundraiser in October.
“He is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological and chemical weapons, because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming,” Biden added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily use tactical nuclear weapons and not end up with Armagedon.”
That’s a scary picture. And what's scarier is that Putin agrees that the risk of nuclear war is increasing. Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s Human Rights Council in December, he didn't rule out the idea of using nuclear weapons first, but said he viewed Russia's nuclear arsenal primarily as a deterrent.
"We have a strategy… namely, as a defense, we consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons – it is all based around the so-called retaliatory strike,” he said. “That is, when we are struck, we strike in response.”
Still, the possibility of nuclear war makes all other problems seem trivial in comparison.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett once called it “the ultimate problem of mankind.”