What do you do with 191bn frozen euros owned by Russia?
The question that now confronts Western policymakers
![A pile of gold bars. From below, a saw is cutting around the floor they stand on](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240302_FND000.jpg)
In economic terms, an asset has value because an owner might derive future benefits from it. Some assets, like cryptocurrencies, require a collective belief in those benefits. Others, like wine, will undeniably provide future pleasure, such as the ability to savour a 1974 Château Margaux. Still others, like American Treasuries, represent a claim on the government of the strongest economy in the world, backed by a formidable legal system.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Treasure hunters”
Finance & economics March 2nd 2024
- Stockmarkets are booming. But the good times are unlikely to last
- Are passive funds to blame for market mania?
- Activist investing is no longer the preserve of hedge-fund sharks
- How Trump and Biden have failed to cut ties with China
- Uranium prices are soaring. Investors should be careful
- What do you do with 191bn frozen euros owned by Russia?
More from Finance & economics
![Solar panels installed on the roof of a building at Skardu in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250215_FNP002.jpg)
Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral
Pakistan and South Africa provide a warning for other countries
![People walk at Zaryadye park with the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral in the background in Moscow, Russia.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250215_FNP502.jpg)
Russian inflation is too high. Does that matter?
In a strong economy, price pressure can endure for a long time
![illustration of a house cut in half diagonally, the lower corner being a bill.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250215_FND001.jpg)
Why you should repay your mortgage early
For the first time in decades, the arithmetic suggests settling housing loans
How AI will divide the best from the rest
Optimists hope the technology will be a great equaliser. Instead, it looks likely to widen social divides
The danger of relying on OpenAI’s Deep Research
Economists are in raptures, but they should be careful
Elon Musk is failing to cut American spending
DOGE has so far disrupted everything in government bar the deficit