THIS WAS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THIS WAS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HEADLINE ON NOVEMBER THE 13TH, 1959. DATELINE, BERLIN. HE'S GERMAN'S JAIL BUYER OF BLUE JEANS. THESE GERMAN COMMUNIST HAVE JAILED 18 AGE OVER TWO MONTHS BECAUSE HE BOUGHT BLUE JEANS AND WEST BERLIN. THE JUDGE TOLD THE 18 YEAR OLD AT THE SENTENCE WOULD SERVE AS A WARNING TO CERTAIN YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARDENTLY WANT BLUE JEANS FOR ROCK AND ROLL.

THROUGHOUT THE COLD WAR, BLUE JEANS, AND IN PARTICULAR, LEVI BLUE JEANS, RAY COVETED, AND AT TIMES, FOR ABETTED ITEM AND SOVIET UNION. BUT SOVIET TEENS DEMANDED VICE. SO MUCH, SO THAT LEVI GENES STARTED GETTING SMUGGLED INTO THE SOVIET UNION, LIKE NARCOTICS. THEY WERE SOLD FOR OUTRAGEOUS PRICES. NO, TO STOP THE SMUGGLING, THESE GERMAN GOVERNMENT FIRST STARTED TO MANUFACTURE THEIR OWN KNOCK OFFS. THAT DIDN'T WORK. THEN THE GOVERNMENT BULK PURCHASED 800,000 PAIRS OF LEVI JEANS, AND HAD THEM LITERALLY AIRLIFTED FROM THE UNITED STATES SO THAT THEY CAN SIDE DISTRIBUTING THEM RIGHT AWAY.

WELL, TODAY, ONCE AGAIN, IN 2022, LEVI GENES HAVE HALTED THEIR SALES AND RUSSIA, JOINING A GROWING CHORUS OF COMPANIES. DISNEY, WARNER BROTHERS, SONY, UNIVERSAL, VERMONT, ALL STOPPING FILM RELEASES AND RUSSIA. MICROSOFT, APPLE, SAMSUNG, HP, AND UNTIL STOPPING NEW SALES. NETFLIX SAYS BULLDOG, TIKTOK WILL NOT ALLOW POST BY RUSSIAN USERS. FLYING OUT OF RUSSIA IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE NOW, AS IS BUYING ANYTHING WITH MAJOR CREDIT CARDS LIKE VISA, MASTERCARD, OR AMERICAN EXPRESS. ALL OF WHICH, IN ADDITION TO PUNISHING WESTERN SANCTIONS TAKES A TOLL.

TRY TAKING A DISNEY MOVIE AWAY FROM A KID, OR AN IPHONE AWAY FROM THE NIGER. AND IN ADDITION TO A MASSIVE GROUND STOP ON WORSENING GOODS AND SERVICES, THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY IS SHOWING A REAL STRAIN. RUSSIAN INTEREST RATES ARE NOW 24 CENTS. THE RUBBLE IS WORTH LESS THAN A PENNY. MASSIVE INFLATION, THE STATE MEDIA IS TRYING TO POSE A POSITIVE SPIN ON THIS INVASION. IT'S CALLED A SPECIAL MONDAY OPERATION THERE. BUT EVEN RUSSIAN CITIZENS WHO ARE FULLY BOUGHT INTO THE STATE SPONSORED NARRATIVE ARE GOING TO HAVE TROUBLE SQUARING UP WHAT THAT MEANS, AND WHY THEY

CAN'T USE THEIR MASTERCARD ANYMORE? AND WHY THEY'RE RUNNING OUT OF FOOD AND SHOPS, AND WHY THEIR MONEY IS WORTH NOTHING OF THIS IS JUST A SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE. A LARGE SECTION OF THE RUSSIAN BUT RELATION IS ALSO OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THE COLD WAR. AND THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN, AND WON BOTH OF THOSE THINGS DID TO THEIR ECONOMY. AND HOW IT ALL LED TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION. YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN MORE THAN 13,000 ANTI WAR PROTESTERS ARRESTED ACROSS RUSSIA. THAT UNREST SEEMS TO BE BUILDING, DESPITE THE MASSIVE INCREASED RISK ASSOCIATED WITH PROTESTING BECAUSE OF A NEW LAW THAT HAS BEEN PUT INTO PLACE.

IS THE BROADER RUSSIA POPULATION, INCLUDING MANY THAT SUPPORT PUTIN, ARE THEY ACTUALLY GOING TO ACCEPT A COSTLY WAR OF CHOICE? AGAINST A NEIGHBOR, AND THE RESULTING ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION? OR IS IT POSSIBLE THAT AT SOME POINT, VLADIMIR PUTIN AND THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT COULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE? JOINING US NOW IS IAN, PRESIDENT OF THE RACIAL GROUP, A LEADING GLOBAL RESEARCH AND CONSULTING FIRM. HE AND, THANKS FOR BEING HERE. YOU HAVE STUDIED THIS MORE THAN MOST. LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS. LET'S SAY YOU CAN'T GET THE REAL INFORMATION, HERE IN RUSSIA, FOR WHATEVER REASON, EVERYTHING YOU READ FOLLOWS OFFICIAL LINE THAT THIS IS A

STRATEGIC OPERATION IN UKRAINE. IT'S NOT A WAR, IT'S NOT AN INNOVATION, BUT SUDDENLY YOUR CREDIT CARD STILL WORK AND YOU CAN BUY STUFF, AND YOU CAN DO STUFF, AND YOU CAN SEE STUFF, AND THINGS AREN'T AVAILABLE ON THE SHELVES, AND YOUR INTEREST RATE IS 20%, AND YOUR MONEY IS NOT WORTH ANYTHING. AT SOME POINT, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO SAY, THIS OFFICIAL STORYLINE DOESN'T JIVE WITH MY LIFE. >> SOME PEOPLE ARE. BUT, MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT. SOME PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE PRIMARILY YOUNG, EDUCATED, LITERATE, AND ONLINE. AT LEAST PREVIOUSLY ONLINE SINCE EVERYTHING IS SHUT DOWN

IN RUSSIA. BUT THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION IS OVERWHELMINGLY FED INFORMATION THROUGH STATE MEDIA. AND, THAT'S TELEVISION, IT'S NEWSPAPERS, IT'S NOT DIGITAL. AND THE LEVEL OF SUPPORT FROM PUTIN HAS A STORY WE'VE BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG AMONG THIS GROUP. AND IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE. IF YOU THINK THE UNITED STATES IS INCREDIBLY DIVIDED, AND THE PEOPLE ONLY FOLLOW NEWS AND CABLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THAT THEY AGREE WITH, THAT IS LITERALLY EXPONENTIALLY LESS THAN WHAT YOU'RE EXPERIENCING IN A RUSSIA RIGHT NOW. AND WE HAVE TO BE AWARE OF THAT,

EVEN AS THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY STARTS TO CRATER, WHICH IT WILL DO IN SPECTACULAR FASHION IN THE COMING DAYS. >> BUT, THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY CRATERING, ON SOME OF THAT WAS IN PART DUE TO HOW MUCH MONEY THAT THE USSR OF SPENDING IN AFGHANISTAN. AND THE BODY BAGS, AND PEOPLE COMING BACK DEAD. BUT A LOT OF IT WAS THE ECONOMY. IT WAS HOW BAD THINGS WERE FOR THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE, WHICH PROMPTED THEM TO THROW OFF THEIR SYSTEMS, THEIR POLITICAL SYSTEMS BACK THEN. WHY WOULDN'T THE SAME THING

HAPPENED NO, WHEN PEOPLE ARE FRUSTRATED WHAT 30 YEARS OF POLITICAL GAIN SEEMED TO BE EVAPORATING IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES? >> BECAUSE, A LOT OF THE REASONS THAT RUSSIANS BELIEVE, AGAIN, PUTIN SUPPORTING RUSSIANS, WHICH IS NOT THE WHOLE POPULATION, BUT A SOLID 60 TO 70%. THE REASON WHY THEY BELIEVE THE COUNTRY HAS FALLEN INTO DISARRAY, THEY DON'T BLAME PUTIN. THEY BLAME THINGS LIKE SHOCK THERAPY, THEY BLAME NATO, THEY PLAY IN THE WEST. SO, WHEN THEY HEAR FROM THE KREMLIN THAT THE REASON THAT THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY AS CRATERING AS BECAUSE OF A WAR,

THEN THE UKRAINIANS HAVE STARTED, OR SPECIAL MOTOR OPERATIONS THAT ARE HAPPENING BECAUSE THE RUSSIANS WERE ABOUT TO LAUNCH A WAR, OR PERHAPS THEY WERE COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST RUSSIANS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES. ABSOLUTELY VERIFIABLY FALSE, BUT COMPLETELY WITH THE RUSSIAN KREMLIN NARRATIVE HAS BEEN, NOW, FOR MONTHS. THEY'RE GOING TO BUY IT. COME ON, WE HAVE A STRONG MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP TO BELIEVE THE ELECTION WAS FAKE, AND THEN, FACT A STRONG MINORITY BELIEVES THAT THEY SHOULD BE RETURNED TO POWER, IMMEDIATELY THROUGH VIOLENCE

THAT'S NECESSARY. THAT'S THE UNITED STATES. IN RUSSIA, ALI, THIS IS VASTLY MORE DYSFUNCTIONAL. AND YOU JUST HAVE TO APPRECIATE THAT PUTIN DOES HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DRIVE THAT NARRATIVE EVEN IN THE CASE OF WHAT'S GOING TO BE A MUCH WORSE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE THAN WHEN ANYONE IN THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING FOR A CENTURY. >> WHAT'S THE BLOW BACK ON THE RUSSIAN WORLD? WE'VE ALREADY SEEN OIL PRICES TOPPING 125 BUCKS A BARREL. A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE TWEETING ME TODAY THAT THEY FILLED UP FOR MORE THAN $4 A GALLON.

WE ARE SEEING, APPROACHING SOME OF THE HIGHEST PRICES FOR OIL AND GASOLINE THAT WE'VE SEEN IN A WHILE. THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN ALL OVER THE WORLD. WIDOWS HAPPENS IF THIS CONTINUES? >> IT'S PROBABLY ABOUT A 1% CONTRACTION IN GLOBAL GDP THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. IT'S A LOT MORE PERSISTENT INFLATION. ITS SUPPLY CHAINS BEING MORE SEVERED AND MORE CHALLENGED. LONGER TIME FOR YOU TO GET WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE TRYING TO ORDER. BUT THAT'S REALLY NOT THE SUFFERING. THE SUFFERING ARE THE POOREST. IT'S A COMBINATION, AND WE'VE

SEEN ABOUT 60 MILLION PEOPLE DIE OF STARVATION IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS AROUND THE WORLD, WHICH IS HIGHER IN THE PANDEMIC THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE PANDEMIC. THAT'S GONNA BE A HECK OF A LOST WARS. WE'VE JUST HAD THE LARGEST GREEN PRODUCER IN THE WORLD INVADE THE FIFTH LARGEST GRAIN PRODUCER IN THE WORLD. THIS IS GOING TO CAUSE ENORMOUS CHALLENGES. THE POOREST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ALREADY DON'T GET ENOUGH TO EAT. IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. YEMEN, AFGHANISTAN. I'M ALSO -- EMERGING MARKETS THAT ARE SERIOUSLY INDEBTED AND DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO CREDIT ARE GOING TO BE MUCH MORE TROUBLE HERE. THE POTENTIAL FOR FINANCIAL CRISIS IN TURKEY, FOR EXAMPLE,

A LOT OF OTHER MEDIUM INCOME EMERGING MARKETS THAT HAVE LIVED THROUGH TWO YEARS OF PANDEMIC THAT HAVE NOWHERE NEAR THE CAPACITY TO MAKE THEIR MIDDLE CLASSES WHOLE THE WAY THE AMERICANS ARE THE EUROPEANS HAVE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC. THEY'RE GOING TO GET SMASHED RIGHT NOW. SO IT'S REALLY GLOBAL. IN THE LAST 40 YEARS GLOBALIZATION HAS DRIVEN THE EMERGENCE OF A GLOBAL MIDDLE CLASS. THE PANDEMIC AND NOW EVEN WORSE,