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Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

aljazeera.com

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Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#111

Post by nequo »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #109
nequo wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ghana's GDP is flow while Twitter's valuation is stock.[1] Given that Twitter's EBITDA was $211mn, it is more accurate to say that Ghana's GDP is 368 Twitters. (Which also sounds crazy nevertheless.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_and_flow

I agree that GDP-stock comparison is not good, but why compare to EBITDA rather than revenue or expenses?

I'm not going to say that I have strong views on this right now. But the reason I used EBITDA is that GDP is the total value added of the economy. EBITDA is the total value added of the company.

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#112

Post by notahacker »

SQueeeeeL wrote: post #90
fernandohur wrote: post #82

Small reminder: ghana's consumption of oil is 0.1% of the worlds total oil consumption (Source: https://www.worldometers.info/oil/ghana-oil/ ), essentially a rounding error. Take this into account before making any statements about the ending dominance of the dollar.

Ahh yes, small changes never preclude larger shifts in large geopolitical entities. But also if anyone tells you they know the future, they're probably trying to sell you something. If I were in charge of Ghana's finances, I'd be pretty cautious of standing in front of any windows for the next few years.

Small changes preclude absolutely nothing happening far more often, and the imminent demise of the petrodollar has been forecast for fifty years involving some much more seismic events than a country with gold mines and a severe dollar reserve shortage and debt problem proposing that gold might solve their problem.

At least the half dozen "gold dinar" projects had a bit of global ambition and a theoretical rationale for the religion of much of the world's oil exporting economies to participate.

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#113

Post by KptMarchewa »

edwnj wrote: post #91
dmitriid wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> East (China+Russia) People that keep bunching Russia with China are deluding themselves that Russia is anywhere on China's radar except as a source of cheap resources (gas, oil, wood)

Russia is a UUUUGE strategic geopolitical ally for China. In a de-globilised world split into spheres of influence, Russia would be a foothold into Europe. Cheap resources cant be discounted, China has duck all for resources. It imports everything (raw nat resources) and its current source Australia is not an ally.

China has other sources for any of the raw materials, russia has no other markets.

If anything happens, it will be a massive extortion like Iran-China deal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93China_25-year_Coo...

Current Urals price is profitable but way below needed to maintain blown up russian budget by war effort. China likes this.

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#114

Post by ben_w »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #108
ben_w wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's a prerequisite, though perhaps not the only one. I also suspect that political stability is more likely to favour China than the USA over the next few decades — it is very human for success to be followed by the assumption of indefatigability and that to be followed by fighting over who leads the nation, rather than continuing to focus on what actually made a nation dominant and how to keep it that way…

>the Soviet Union took 50 years to go from agrarian to space That's a naive view of russia. Up to this day, one of the main tasks of russian army - as previously soviet - is potato harvest.

I can certainly believe they're like that today, given how inept they obviously are in every aspect of the Ukraine war. So much so, I will take that at face value without even bothering to google it even though it would've seemed like a surprising and unbelievable claim this time last year.

That doesn't mean they didn't go to space, nor does it mean they didn't industrialise, nor does it mean they weren't a significant word power and viable threat to the USA during the Cold War.

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#115

Post by 0x445442 »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #104
0x445442 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s more an issue of other countries seeing that the U.S. can just confiscate their dollar reserves if the US doesn’t agree with their sovereign actions. Those countries are choosing to divest from the mono world order which is crumbling. For a long but instructive discussion on current economic events check out this interview. https://youtu.be/cD_UcRtljDU

US can confiscate your dollar reserves if you keep those dollars in the US, just as they can confiscate your gold reserves if you keep them in the Fort Knox. >sovereign actions Nice euphemism for genocidal, imperialist war.

> Nice euphemism for genocidal, imperialist war.

You’re referring to the U.S. right?

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#116

Post by luciusdomitius »

jonnybgood wrote: post #98

This has nothing to do with USD dominance as many are suggesting. Ghana is running out of USD reserves and has to resort to buying with gold. Nothing suggests they wouldn’t use USD if they had it.

What prevents them exchanging gold for $ like all other gold producers are doing? This is probably what they themselves were doing beforehands?

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#117

Post by notahacker »

jonnybgood wrote: post #98

This has nothing to do with USD dominance as many are suggesting. Ghana is running out of USD reserves and has to resort to buying with gold. Nothing suggests they wouldn’t use USD if they had it.

It's also a country once known as the "Gold Coast" whose largest export is gold. I don't think they'd be proposing to acquire it otherwise...

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#118

Post by KptMarchewa »

hardlianotion wrote: post #52
ur-whale wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apologies, but your reading of the situation is shallow. What do you think led Vlad to invade? The US has been mounting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine for the past 20 years, one they're ready - barring political upheaval in the US - to fight down to the last European.

Much more knowledgeable people than I am suggest that the reasons include nostalgia for empire, and the acute fear that near-Russia is not defensible if states like Ukraine are not controlled up to the nearest natural defensible barrier. Modern Russia appears to have a mortal fear of being invaded that is a little perplexing to the modern European.

>Modern Russia appears to have a mortal fear of being invaded that is a little perplexing to the modern European.

This is a media deflection. They massively blow this up with Ukraine but literally do nothing when Sweden and Finland joins.

What putin really fears, is free, rich and democratic country in which large parts of population speak russian language. The masses can't be placated if "the same people" live better lives than under mafia regime. That's why russia spend last 30 years undermining free Ukraine and ensuring their hold on Belarus.

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#119

Post by luciusdomitius »

nickdothutton wrote: post #102
RedBeetDeadpool wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there are no dollars involved. If they do as you suggest, at the start: A holds gold. B holds dollars. C holds oil. A trades B, gold for dollars. A holds dollars, B holds gold. A trades C, dollars for oil. A holds oil, C holds dollars. After your suggested trade result: A holds oil. B holds gold. C holds dollars. If there is no "middle man", party A gets oil, party C gets gold. Party B keeps their dollars. En…

The US export of inflation via engineered demand for petrodollars (and one could say enforcement via aircraft carrier groups) is an under appreciated effect.

It is literally the most controversial concept in today's geopolitics. Study politics science in Dover - it is a conspiracy theory. Study PS in Calais - it is the exorbitant privilege and a cornerstone of global injustice. And it is not like France and the empire are rivals.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorbitant_privilege

Re: Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

#120

Post by UltraViolence »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #19
kaladin_1 wrote: post #3

Interesting the pressure is increasing. More and more countries questioning why they need to base their foreign transaction on the US Dollar. Could this mounting unrest be as a result of the seeming inability of the US Federal bank in checking inflation of the US Dollar. Also, some of these Nations can no longer determine what benefit it is to them is using the US Dollar as their reserve currency and trading currency…

If you look at the actual numbers, you'll find that USD dominance is still unchallenged. BUT, there is definitely way more chatter about alternative payment options, including from well-placed government sources and central banks in important non-west allied countries. It's now a matter of "when", not "if" when an alternative currency pops up, maybe a BRICS currency.

I believe the war in Ukraine has permanently damaged the USD's dominance in the medium to long term.

The use of a supposedly neutral financial network (SWIFT) as a sanction weapon will make other nations who aren't on good terms with the U.S. and the West (and not just the "usual suspects" but many nations in Africa and South America too) seeking alternatives.

As previously mentioned, Bitcoin is a viable alternative. But there may be others. In any case I see nations ganging up to create an alternative to the SWIFT network, potentially undermining its usefulness.

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