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Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of dollars

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

#351
post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because it's not the case at all. de-dollarization is picking up rapidly across most neutral/anti-US countries and this is the start of it. China is trading with Russia in yuan and even India has allowed small players to bypass USD and trade in INR directly https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-allows-internation... Something I have been shouting hoarse is that this war in Ukraine is going to have multi-generatio…

It’s so interesting to me that people see the dollar at a long term high, a proxy war in which the US is kicking ass (we don’t even need to send troops, our old equipment is enough) and their takeaway is that the US is in decline.

US definitely has declined from its peak position of '90-'00. By the end of the last century, even allies were openly voicing concerns over US being a hyperpower and not just a mere superpower. [They are calling us a superpower again.]

9/11 is the inflection point (and subsequent matter is my opinion) and regrettably for us Americans, the store was in the hands of neocons, who stupidly (they wrote in late 90s a document announcing to the rest of the world that ~'US will never permit anyone reaching parity to challenge', shit like that) misused our global position, and give motivation for various powers, including w/o a doubt ~Western allies, to review Swift's Gulliver's Travels ..

We pissed away blood, treasure, and reputation during the regime of the neocons (which spans D and R presidents, btw).

Do you think the laughably comical criticism of "world order" by the "mutlipolarity" gang, the likes of RF or CPC and junior friends, would be taken seriously by other world leaders/nations if US had not acted like a bully these past 2 decades?

We absolutely must re-examine our stewardship performance vis-à-vis the tacit acceptance of other major powers for this arrangement under sane leadership of US of A.

Second, Putin's adventure would not have happened in an environment of robust US prestige and power, but you appear to forget just how oddly our nation has been acting (at least as viewed from an external lens) in terms of our domestic politics. We've lost prestige on that end as well. What made this little man so confident? Why is he still hanging on? It should have been well over by now.

Finally, RF appears to have forced US to use mechanisms -- confiscation of sovereign reserves, etc. -- that I assure you must have scared the living light from all spectators with treasure trusted to the "international order". They are all saying 'but by the grace of god of mamon there go I'!

So we need to get our act together as a nation, if we intend to continue to insist that we are the responsible steward of the Global order.

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

#352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

Why would countries that don't plan to commit genocide need to be bothered by SWIFT cutting off countries that commit genocide? In fact, this is a good thing for countries that don't want to be genocided as it provides an additional incentive against genocide.

> "No one knows with certainty how many people have been killed and wounded in Iraq since the 2003 United States invasion. However, we know that between 184,382 and 207,156 civilians have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S" [0]

Is it only a genocide if a non-western ally does it?

0: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/ir...

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

#353
post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But the U.S empire has been pretty amazing for a pretty amazing number of people across the globe, and it is shockingly easy to stay on the good side of U.S. foreign policy. Hell no > Be reasonably democratic, don’t genocide undesirable elements of your population, don’t pick on other reasonably democratic countries, don’t threaten world trade and resources, don’t steal all the Americans’ stuff by suddenly socializ…

Russia went from being the “evil empire” to having Starbucks and McDonalds within ten years of ticking just a couple of those boxes. If your nation is still on the international naughty list it’s because of your behavior. Americans would much rather be selling you cheeseburgers and blue jeans and Avengers movies than fighting with you.

Yes, it’s true Americans are very easy to get along with. All you have to do is depose your leaders, change your entire economic system and dismantle your military capacity for force projection just like the USSR did as it broke down.

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

#354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is incredibly strong. That does not mean the dollar is in good shape. Too much strength for your currency of exchange / account is a bad thing. It is why crypto cannot be a currency even if the blockchain was rock solid tech. Nobody in their right mind will use a currency that is that volatile. You cannot price anything properly or run a business. Same with usd. Sure the guy above is exaggerating and he probab…

Are you saying that USD is very volatile currency? Volatile relative to what?

Not very volatile but the USD/Euro parity changed lot during the last five years. The BCE is obsessed with the stability of the currency, but I find that the FED is doing a much better job with the USD or maybe it's also the US economy being more resilient.

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

#355
post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s so interesting to me that people see the dollar at a long term high, a proxy war in which the US is kicking ass (we don’t even need to send troops, our old equipment is enough) and their takeaway is that the US is in decline.

US definitely has declined from its peak position of '90-'00. By the end of the last century, even allies were openly voicing concerns over US being a hyperpower and not just a mere superpower . [They are calling us a superpower again.] 9/11 is the inflection point (and subsequent matter is my opinion) and regrettably for us Americans, the store was in the hands of neocons, who stupidly (they wrote in late 90s a docu…

> Second, Putin's adventure would not have happened in an environment of robust US prestige and power, but you appear to forget just how oddly our nation has been acting (at least as viewed from an external lens) in terms of our domestic politics.

I believe Putin perceived Biden as weak. Big mistake. Both of his more recent adventures were during Democrat administrations. The 2008 Russo-Georgian war was during the GW Bush administration, when the US was busy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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

#356
post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that USD is very volatile currency? Volatile relative to what?

Not very volatile but the USD/Euro parity changed lot during the last five years. The BCE is obsessed with the stability of the currency, but I find that the FED is doing a much better job with the USD or maybe it's also the US economy being more resilient.

I think it’s the US economy being more resilient. Here in Europe things started falling apart when the interest rate went up to 1.75%. The US seems fine with double that.

I think the over regulating of the labor market and Ponzi style pensions are the two major factors. But it is hard to understand how they can be so different. I’d love to read something on the subject if anybody has any recommendations.

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

#357
post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s so interesting to me that people see the dollar at a long term high, a proxy war in which the US is kicking ass (we don’t even need to send troops, our old equipment is enough) and their takeaway is that the US is in decline.

US definitely has declined from its peak position of '90-'00. By the end of the last century, even allies were openly voicing concerns over US being a hyperpower and not just a mere superpower . [They are calling us a superpower again.] 9/11 is the inflection point (and subsequent matter is my opinion) and regrettably for us Americans, the store was in the hands of neocons, who stupidly (they wrote in late 90s a docu…

> We absolutely must re-examine our stewardship performance vis-à-vis the tacit acceptance of other major powers for this arrangement under sane leadership of US of A.

I would much prefer a unipolar world with a benevolent US in the driver’s seat. I think the war in Ukraine shows that that is where we are right now. The idea that authoritarian regimes with a disdain for human rights (like China and Russia) should be allowed anywhere near an equal say in the future of this world is scary to me.

I agree though that this requires more restraint on the use of force than the “neocons” showed. Hopefully US leadership has learnt its lesson over the past two decades: the fact that you have the power to utterly destroy a country does not mean that you have the power to build one.

(I’m Swedish BTW.)

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

#358
post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USD in Forex is well over $5T per day USD in oil is barely $3T per year Nothing external will ever pressure USD without the United States having collapsed first.

> Nothing external will ever pressure USD Not completely true. The current crisis is driven by foreign buyers not being enthusiastic about buying more US debt. The current inflation crisis is directly related to the large amount of price support for US debt provided by the US Fed in 2020-21. US govt is essentially holding foreign creditors hostage. If you try to move away from US debt, they will just print more dolla…

> US debt is extremely toxic, which isn't an obvious fact if you look at the surface only.

Is it? Why do you think so?

I’d say it’s the safest asset in the world. Sure, if you buy a 10y US bond you risk having some of the value eaten by inflation. But that’s a relatively “soft” risk in that hyperinflation is unlikely. Default I think is extremely unlikely.

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

#359
post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very Roughly: Countries don't buy oil (or anything else) with a suitcase or few stuffed with $100 bills.* Instead, they have a really big bank move US dollars through the international banking system electronically. Any really big bank that wants to keep its US-issued "Allowed to Handle US Dollars Electronically" License has got to follow a bunch of US-made rules. Which rules doubtless permit the US to make & enforce…

> US-issued "Allowed to Handle US Dollars Electronically" License Source?

The permission to use SWIFT, which has been recently revoked for Russia. And contagious sanctions designed to make it difficult to trade with non-sanctioned companies and countries.

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

#360
post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because it's not the case at all. de-dollarization is picking up rapidly across most neutral/anti-US countries and this is the start of it. China is trading with Russia in yuan and even India has allowed small players to bypass USD and trade in INR directly https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-allows-internation... Something I have been shouting hoarse is that this war in Ukraine is going to have multi-generatio…

USD in Forex is well over $5T per day USD in oil is barely $3T per year Nothing external will ever pressure USD without the United States having collapsed first.

That’s like saying “cryptocurrency trades 7 zillion dollars of value per day but only $3M per day of actual business occurs, so actual business considerations can’t possibly affect the price of cryptocurrency”.

There is a whole lot of money moving around via forex transactions, but that doesn’t control the value of the dollar.

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