{"id":1324,"date":"2026-08-04T08:37:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2026-08-04T08:37:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:37:50","slug":"diesel-and-dictators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1324","title":{"rendered":"Diesel and Dictators"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For the past few weeks, I have been driving past gas stations in the South of France, wondering if I was seeing double.<\/p>\n

Read more The Current Status of American Schools<\/a><\/p>\n

In early July, as prices were going down, something strange was happening to diesel. For the first time in twenty years, it was more expensive than premium gas.<\/p>\n

I remember when Emmanuel Macron, the French boy president I call \u201cLittle Cookie\u201d because of the way the locals pronounce his name in the South of France, tried to do this during his first few months in office in 2017.<\/p>\n

He wanted to get rid of diesel vehicles because his enviro-crazy advisors told him they were not just big polluters but were keeping people from making the switch to electric vehicles. (Diesel engines are so much more efficient and powerful than normal gasoline engines, at least in Europe.)<\/p>\n

Added to that was the fact that French farmers, winegrowers, construction workers, and a host of related small business owners had been able to buy diesel for their vehicles at half price, without government taxes. These were the dirty unwashed Frenchmen who had never been to an elite school, and Macron instinctively hated them all.<\/p>\n

The result of that exploit, which would have doubled the price of diesel fuel and bankrupted many farmers, was the gilet jaune<\/em> movement, or what the Brits dubbed the \u201cyellow jackets,\u201d after the yellow safety jackets people put in their windshields to show their discontent.<\/p>\n

Today, diesel fuel has not gone up because of French government policy, and there are no more yellow jackets on the roads.<\/p>\n

This time, it\u2019s the Putin tax.<\/p>\n

On July 9, after successive drone attacks on Russian refineries that choked off diesel supplies, Putin ordered Russian refiners to stop exporting diesel fuel entirely so they could keep the domestic market supplied.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember seeing headlines about this in the European press, but if you go back, the news was reported, even by CNN.\u00a0Americans paid no attention to it, because we don\u2019t import much diesel fuel from Russia. But Europe certainly does.<\/p>\n

This is yet another sign I see of the surprisingly successful strategy of the Ukrainian military to bring the war home to the people of Russia but also to their fellow Europeans.<\/p>\n

Putin is increasingly behaving as an embattled dictator. Facing parliamentary elections in September, he has sent out his goons to arrest anyone who actually declares themselves opposed to his policies.<\/p>\n

Read more Morning Greatness: Trump to Highlight Economic Record on West Coast Trip<\/a><\/p>\n

That includes Russia\u2019s biggest opposition party, Yabloko. Putin\u2019s spokesman, Dmitry Peshkov, brushed those reports aside like any czar\u2019s aide would brush off an incoming mortar round. \u201cYabloko?\u201d he said, incredulous. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t even call Yabloko a party. It\u2019s no more than a cell.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I heard that, I thought of Baghdad Bob, who claimed there were no U.S. forces anywhere near Baghdad as live TV cameras showed U.S. tanks rolling up right behind him.<\/p>\n

Tehran\u2019s embattled dictators have also appeared increasingly on the ropes.<\/p>\n

Last week, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, the two-faced negotiator who begs Trump in private to stop bombing while in public he beats his chest like a Revolutionary Guards officer, made an astonishing revelation.<\/p>\n

He said that in December, just weeks before the regime opened fire and killed 54,000 protesters, the regime nearly lost control of Iran\u2019s second-largest city, Mashhad.<\/p>\n

The regime has become so embattled that it is now treating 90 percent inflation as if it were a success story. I\u2019m not joking. Check it out here.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration continues to tighten the noose around the regime\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n

Not only does our military pound the IRGC every time they attack ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. supervision and protection, but the Treasury is going after Iranian assets worldwide, including bitcoin money-laundering operations in Dubai.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Dubai authorities shut down a $4 billion bitcoin scheme\u2014get this\u2014that was used to launder the proceeds of illicit gambling inside Iran!<\/p>\n

I remain sanguine about the wars, the future of the people of Iran, and even about Russia and Ukraine, because corruption cannot last forever. After all, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, it figured number eight on the Lord\u2019s bad list.<\/p>\n

Read more Is \u2018Communist\u2019 No Longer a Slur?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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