Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas Friedman has figured out the key steps to halt Vladimir Putin in his tracks. His brilliance is on display in today’s NYT.
Friedman’s recipe calls for increasing oil and natural gas exports to Europe. So far, so good. Europe gets 30 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and the Russian economy is dependent on oil and gas exports.
Friedman then demands that we raise our gasoline tax and institute a carbon tax in order to drive down global oil prices. Just announcing these steps, according to Friedman, would frighten Putin.
Does anyone other than a New York millionaire liberal elite snob believe that raising prices on American consumers (and the resulting decrease in American GDP) is likely to frighten Putin?
The only way that I can see Friedman’s plan working is if Putin dies from laughter.
Reading the comments of the NYT readers, apparently there’s a lot of people who think we need to poke our finger in Putin’s eye by raising energy prices here in the US. Sigh…