Comment by Gibbon1
2 days ago
That most counties need to import oil and gas to keep the lights on and industry functioning means you don't need to send gunboats of yore. See Smedley Butler's rant. Now when they get in a pickle they need foreign currency. And that's how they get ya.
Renewables however flips things back.
That's an excellent point, and one I hadn't really internalized. Thank you.
Instructive to read up on the 2022 Sri Lanka protests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Sri_Lankan_protests
Debt crisis and sharp spikes in fuel and oil costs resulted in shortages of both. Also shortages of fertilizer. Which resulted in shortages of food.
If I was a Sri Lankan politician I wouldn't want a repeat of that.
The Sri Lankan politicians like "Mr. 10%" were largely in it for the gift. The debt crisis could have been prevented if they followed IMF recommendations in the first place.