JRL NEWSWATCH: “Western leaders must prepare public for a war economy; The cost of living crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better” – Financial Times
“… ‘Ukraine fatigue’ is a real risk in western democracies[,] [whose] citizens are repulsed by … Putin’s war of unprovoked aggression and are full of sympathy for the Ukrainian people. … But as things drag on … [i]t is easy to see how the cost of living crisis … compounded by war and snarled-up supply chains, … probably already putting a chill on demand, could erode western leaders’ focus on Ukraine. To let this happen would be an error and a failure. An error, because inflation in the west is to a significant extent made in Moscow. A failure, because it would mean … political leaders had neglected … [to] prepar[e] the public for … unavoidable hard choices to come ….”
The author suggests how Western leaders should explain to their populations how cost of living concerns are likely to get worse, and why.