Current Events & Trends: The global economy and Russian sanctions
Since the Russian takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, economic sanctions have been imposed on Russia as a punitive reprimand by the Western powers of the world. Immediately, in a seemingly juvenile reaction, Russia responded with counter-sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan was to keep Russia's export goods from leaving its borders, hunker down and take the sanctions on the chin. What couldn't be planned was the price of oil. Russia exports a lot of oil, and the country was coasting along, sanctions and all, when the price of oil was high. Recently, however, as you may have noticed
at the pump, oil prices dropped—to around $75 a barrel. This is when Russia began to feel the blow.
The Economist states: "The immediate worry is the oil price. Mr Putin is confident it will recover. But supply seems set to increase, with OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including states in the Middle East, Africa and South America] keen to defend its market share. American government agencies predict oil prices could average $83 a barrel in 2015, well below the $90 level Russia needs to avoid recession" ("Russia: A Wounded Economy," Nov. 22, 2014).
The economic system of the world at times seems very stable, and at other times seems to be teetering on the edge. The truth is that the world economy is all very interconnected and shaky. Little movements here or there can impact national economies for years. The Russian example is still playing out, but we can see how sanctions can affect a country.
God's coming government and global economy will be stable, just and true. Look to the pages of your Bible and see what God has in store for His coming Kingdom. (Source: The Economist.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 2015
Course Content
Rudolph Rangel III
Rudy Rangel attends the Cincinnati East, Ohio congregation along with his wife Judy and two children.
Tom Robinson
Tom is an elder in the United Church of God who works from his home near St. Louis, Missouri as managing editor and senior writer for Beyond Today magazine, church study guides and the UCG Bible Commentary. He is a visiting instructor at Ambassador Bible College. And he serves as chairman of the church's Prophecy Advisory Committee and a member of the Fundamental Beliefs Amendment Committee.
Tom began attending God's Church at the age of 16 in 1985 and was baptized a year later. He attended Ambassador College in both Texas and California and served for a year as a history teacher at the college's overseas project in Sri Lanka. He graduated from the Texas campus in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology along with minors in English and mass communications. Since 1994, he has been employed as an editor and writer for church publications and has served in local congregations through regular preaching of sermons.
Tom was ordained to the ministry in 2012 and attends the Columbia-Fulton, Missouri congregation with his wife Donna and their two teen children.
