Media: US Treasury hires two economists to study unintended consequences of sanctions
The U.S. Treasury Department has hired two economists to study the possible effects of sanctions, Bloomberg reported.
“The US Treasury Department has hired two economists to study the unintended consequences of sanctions,” the agency said in a report.
The economic analysis unit of the sanctions will look into the collateral damage of the sanctions before and after their imposition to see if there is a need to adjust them, it said.
The chief sanctions economist will be Rachel Lingaas, who previously worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund. Her deputy will be Lina Bhatnagar, a finance ministry official who has worked on US policy towards Asia. According to the agency, the finance ministry is also waiting to recruit new staff.
Some researchers have reportedly argued that sanctions are abused, difficult to manage and almost impossible to lift once imposed.
Bloomberg reported in September that the US Treasury was looking for an international economic observer, a “sanctions guru” to help Washington avoid economic turmoil amid increasing sanctions pressure on Russia. According to the agency, US President Joe Biden’s administration wants to limit the unintended consequences of sanctions amid their more frequent imposition. Critics of the sanctions point out that private companies are beginning to avoid jurisdictions where there is even a hint of sanctions risk. It is noted that the sanctions guru should help the government avoid economic shocks such as the one faced by the global aluminium market in 2018 with the imposition of sanctions on companies linked to Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.
The West has stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia over Ukraine, pushing up electricity, fuel and food prices in Europe and the US. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and the sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people. The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that Russia will solve all the problems the West poses to it.
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