I just read a related article the other day, claiming the same thing, but with a different analysis: https://mises.org/wire/world-looks-abandon-dollar-us-sanctio...
America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
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Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There's no such thing as a rules-based, open world. You're living in one right now. Anarchy need not be synonymous with chaos, especially if disputes and conflicts are relatively unimportant (due to easy defense making 'rights' self-enforcing). The point of courts is then to arbitrate disputes in a publicly-visible way, enforcement is relatively less important.
The only reason courts have authority to arbitrate disputes is because they are backed up by the will and authority of the government, which in turn has a monopoly on the use of force in society.
Now you are bumping on the reason I think the founders put the 2nd amendment in the bill of rights. Govts have to be balanced at some point by the will of the people
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no such thing as a rules-based, open world. International relations is a state of anarchy and perpetual conflict that only fleetingly resembles peace during those periods where there's a global hegemon that can enforce those "rules". Within a country, those courts are the hegemon. "Each country having a strong interest in remaining within that system that outweighs any short-term benefits from skirting its re…
> There's no such thing as a rules-based, open world. You're living in one right now. Anarchy need not be synonymous with chaos, especially if disputes and conflicts are relatively unimportant (due to easy defense making 'rights' self-enforcing). The point of courts is then to arbitrate disputes in a publicly-visible way, enforcement is relatively less important.
No, I’m living in a world dominated by American hegemony. International institutions like the UN are valuable but when the other Western countries tried to set up a rules-based international order after WWI it only lasted 20 years.
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#24The lack of any viable alternative has kept the dollar in its current dominant position. That alternative won't exactly announce itself so that US policymakers can rationally decide to change course about the weaponization of money. It will instead, sneak up on the country in the form of weird little experiments that don't seem worth the time and effort to track or regulate. By the time one of them becomes the obviou…
Isn't the answer the euro? Stable, inflation proof, light or no sanctions. As brexit proceeds and more financial services move to mainland Europe, you won't even have to worry about the brits messing with it... I seem to remember the EU agreeing to setup a psudo bank to deal direct with Iran so they can bypass restrictions on trade? Edit: here it is! https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/eu-mechanism-for-...
Every country sponsoring a currency approaching the reach of the dollar will begin to experience the same political forces as the US. Weaponization of the currency in the service of foreign and domestic policies is viewed as a cheap alternative to war. And so the pressure to weaponize will sooner or later become irresistible.
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only reason courts have authority to arbitrate disputes is because they are backed up by the will and authority of the government, which in turn has a monopoly on the use of force in society.
Now you are bumping on the reason I think the founders put the 2nd amendment in the bill of rights. Govts have to be balanced at some point by the will of the people
The Founders also raised an army to put down a tax revolt in Appalachia—though to their credit they ultimately resolved the dispute through negotiation rather than bloodshed.
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#26As a point of fact, it isn't true that the dominant currency imposing costs is new...that has always happened. Britain did it in order to secure continued use of the £, and the US has done it before now. It is a normal extension of foreign policy (because finance is not separate from politics, as the Rusal example shows). It isn't some kind of authoritarian aberration either. The point is that the US has most to lose…
> It is kind of unfortunate that the Economist keeps getting worse. The election of Mango Man and Brexit has truly addled the minds of some generally smart people (or made clear that their smartness wasn't actual intelligence but an ability to just parrot whatever they were told was "right").
Sad to agree. It really is eye opening to see how many of “the smart people” get is so damn wrong over and over because of narrative or hope or just some weird political blindness.
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is the US building a pipeline to Mexico? Is Mexico a corrupt, authoritarian dictatorship that routinely interferes in Western politics? If my aunt had balls, would she be my uncle?
The US and Canada already possess pipelines to Mexico. https://theodora.com/pipelines/mexico_pipelines.html
Does Mexico use those pipelines to project power into North America? If anything it would be the reverse as the US is a net exporter, but in reality it’s not quite comparable.
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#28For the rest of the world this is a good thing. Why would the United States be the one to decide if Germany is allowed to build a pipeline to Russia or not? Image if it was Germany that used sanctions to prevent the US from building a pipeline to Mexico. Would you be ok with that?
US opposition to a pipeline to Russia is confined to a small group of people who are strangely very friendly to Russia on all other matters. There is no widespread or popular opposition to Germany building a pipeline to Russia in the United States. This doesn't really treat with the dollar-denominated world economy but I wanted to point this out to differentiate the current irrational foreign policy of the US governm…
Wat? Pretty much all eastern/former communist block countries that are in the EU oppose it. That's almost 40% of the block.
They can't directly confront Germany, but the US can, and it is doing so rightly. The project comprises the long term security of the Nato block, and the said countries have a major distrust towards Russia as it has they have suffered a lot under thier imposed communist regimes.
For a bunch of smart people, HN veers too much into hands off 'libertarian' side of things. US lets its hands off in the region, it will slowly be transformed again into a basket case of 'kleptocratic' countries in the way Russia is today.
---- The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Croatia––all highly dependent on Russian gas––signed a petition against Nord Stream 2 in March 2016, highlighting the risks for energy security in Central and Eastern Europe.
Italy is in a similar bind. In 2015, Italy accused the EU Commission of applying double-standards when the Commission did not reject the Nord Stream 2 project, as it did with the South Stream––a project which would have benefited Italy’s role as energy hub in the Mediterranean. For this reason, Italy complained about Germany’s influence in the EU Commission and called for equal treatment.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/04/22/n...
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now you are bumping on the reason I think the founders put the 2nd amendment in the bill of rights. Govts have to be balanced at some point by the will of the people
The Founders also raised an army to put down a tax revolt in Appalachia—though to their credit they ultimately resolved the dispute through negotiation rather than bloodshed.
Of course, ultimately politics is controlled violence
Re: America’s aggressive use of sanctions endangers the dollar’s reign
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
US opposition to a pipeline to Russia is confined to a small group of people who are strangely very friendly to Russia on all other matters. There is no widespread or popular opposition to Germany building a pipeline to Russia in the United States. This doesn't really treat with the dollar-denominated world economy but I wanted to point this out to differentiate the current irrational foreign policy of the US governm…
Wat? Pretty much all eastern/former communist block countries that are in the EU oppose it. That's almost 40% of the block. They can't directly confront Germany, but the US can, and it is doing so rightly. The project comprises the long term security of the Nato block, and the said countries have a major distrust towards Russia as it has they have suffered a lot under thier imposed communist regimes. For a bunch of s…
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