Commentary The new inflation numbers are out. It’s 8 percent on consumer prices, or so they say. Not even that is believable. More likely, it’s already double digit. The U.S. president blames Russia, clearly hoping the Americans are too dull to understand timelines or economics. Let’s look at the bigger picture. The United States has imposed absolutely brutal sanctions on a country whose freedom from Soviet domination it celebrated only 30 years ago. These sanctions are typical of the type; they harm average people in all countries, while the ruling class in all countries is given an opportunity to scapegoat foreigners for domestic problems. What they otherwise achieve is never clear. History gives us precious few examples of economic sanctions that inspire domestic reform that wasn’t already in progress. Still, we impose them, if only to “Do something.” We’ve been here most recently with this model of policy. “Do something” …