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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

#371

Post by samus »

UltraViolence wrote: post #120
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

The SWIFT network has been used that way against Iran in 2012 though. These sanctions have been lifted in 2016 and this usage has probably disappeared from popular awareness because of that.

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

#372

Post by kwere »

georgeplusplus wrote: post #299
kasey_junk wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese are demanding Russia trade in yuan because the Russian currency has, through a series of impressive self owns, become completely useless. If the Russian position was even a little less weak it wouldn’t fly because Russians don’t want yuan for the same reason Chinese people don’t, it’s an illiberal currency unsuitable for trade. That’s getting worse not better, because there is a moderate chance if China r…

China demands payment in useless currency. What part of this narrative makes sense to you?

It's like company wanting to paying people with scrips redeemable to company-mart ( china market) and that locks you in, BCS it could be worthless if you don't use the money quickly and/or outside company premises

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

#373

Post by hnews_account_1 »

SergeAx wrote: post #341
hnews_account_1 wrote: post #330

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?

Relative to other currencies and relative to its own past.

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

#375

Post by grogers »

bjornsing wrote: post #358
pphysch wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

US treasuries are sometimes called "return-free risk". It seems pretty clear that the US government is borrowing unsustainably high amounts. We can't keep this pace of borrowing up for very long. So either the government starts being financially responsible (how likely do you think that is?), or by the time those 10y bonds mature you'll either get highly devalued dollars or just nothing at all.

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

#376

Post by tut-urut-utut »

immibis wrote: post #281
UltraViolence wrote: post #120

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.

That depends on who decided what is a genocide.

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

#377

Post by jen20 »

andirk wrote: post #364
jen20 wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FTX's collapse has left its mark, but this will only be temporary Bitcoin was down well in advance of the FTX collapse. The reason it is down is because it's a Ponzi scheme, and an unconscionable waste of resources so that cryptobros can LARP at being a libertarian.

> The reason it is down is because it's a Ponzi scheme Is the rest of the stonks also a ponzi scheme? Because if you didn't notice, those are also very down.

If by "stonks" you mean meme stocks and SPACs, then practically yes. They both rely on the people coming afterwards being a bigger idiot onto whom poor value instruments can be offloaded.

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

#379

Post by eternalban »

bjornsing wrote: post #357
eternalban wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

We're in general agreement.

I will add that there is a legitimate concern, internal and external to the West that so far, given that this issue of ideological extremists (such as neocons) getting their hands on some elements of policy and executive arms of the West did not get a public accounting and redress -- how did it happen and what is to prevent it from happening again -- leaves open the possibility that the unipolar world may very well become uniformly fascist. This remains to be effectively addressed.

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

#380

Post by RC_ITR »

eternalban wrote: post #351
RC_ITR wrote: 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…

>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.]

People in the '90's would have bemoaned that the US was well down from its peak in The 40's (you know, when we had nuclear superiority for c. 5 years). But in neither era would an average Congolese citizen use a US-developed product for most of the day (though now they sure as hell use Android and Google). Soft influence is a thing too.

>9/11 is the inflection point

George Bush et al really wanted Americans to believe that, but why? It's not like Iraq is that much different from Vietnam. Both were ill-fated wars we mostly lost, but not in a way that makes our enemies see us as weak (Iraq, particularly its leaders, got annihilated, The US just failed at rebuilding)

>Second, Putin's adventure would not have happened in an environment of robust US prestige and power

Yeah, the Soviet Union never invaded bordering nations during the 20th century.

>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.

You really weren't alive during the Cold War, huh? Remember Chernenko? The one that invaded Afghanistan? He held on just fine.

>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'!

Or they are saying 'better to be a friend of the US vs. an enemy!" It's not like we are picky in who we like (cough MBS cough), we just are opportunists who will welcome anyone who plays along.

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