American Consequences - February 2020

By Author Name By Kim Iskyan

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On August 14, 1998, the president of a powerful, formerly communist nation told one of the biggest lies ever... At the time, I was living in Russia, so it occupies a hall-of-fame spot in my personal panoply of politician lies. On that day, then- Russian president Boris Yeltsin declared that Russia’s currency would not be devalued. He slurred: There will be no devaluation – that’s firm and definite... I’m not simply fantasizing. Everything has been calculated. Every day, work is done to control the situation in this area. Three days later, the ruble devalued sharply, with deep and dire economic consequences for the Russian economy and for tens of millions of Russians (and me) who found themselves holding a currency worth a fraction of what it had been worth just a few days before. It’s a stark lesson for anyone who believes politicians when they talk about bad things not happening. And right now, politicians in another, still- communist country – are likely telling lies that are far bigger and more damaging. These are life-and-death falsehoods about the SARS- like coronavirus making its way through China, east Asia, and now the rest of the world...

IT’S WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU THAT MATTERS THE MOST...

American Consequences

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