Good posts Canuck.
To the rest of you I say... I'm more interested in facts & the truth, than indulging in bun fights.
A post by Ampickle under economics on the Asia times forum;
The American Dollar, R. I. P.
Saudi Arabia, immediately after the death of King Fahd, announced that it was going to repatriate $360 billion invested overseas in the last 18 months. Of course, the majority of this was invested in the United States, and Saudi Arabia can't possibly absorb all that money, so this is a polite way of saying that they will invest their oil revenues in countries other than the United States. Thus quietly ends the scheme that Saudi oil surpluses would be invested in the United States. This has worked exceptionally well for the Americans, and the thanks the Saudis got for it was to be constantly blamed for financing terrorism, financing which started at the insistence of the United States! The replacement of Prince Bandar - a man perceived as very close to American interests, particularly the Bush crime family itself - as Saudi ambassador to the United States almost certainly also signals that the Saudis are tired of propping up the American economy and receiving only aggravation in return. The loss of the very close friendship of the Saudis is another gift the Americans have received from the Zionists in the Bush Administration. Sometimes it helps to know who your real friends are.
The American Dollar, R. I. P.
Everybody has started to pick on the poor Americans:
South Korea, which holds the fourth largest currency reserves in the world, traditionally held in American debt instruments, announced in the spring that it was going to diversify into other currencies.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/22/markets/bondcenter/bonds/
Russia now calculates the value of the ruble in terms of a basket including the American Dollar and the Euro, with the Euro weighting in the basket gradually increasing. It is also considering denominating the value of its oil in Euros rather than Dollars.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/351/14927_euro.html
China has announced that the value of its currency will be determined by a basket of currencies, instead of being fixed against the American Dollar. The relative weightings of currencies in the basket is a secret, which will allow the Chinese to quietly divest themselves of American holdings without triggering a panic that would suddenly reduce the value of these holdings. The American political opposition of the Chinese acquisition of Unocal is going to turn out to be a very dumb move.
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/11/content_467988.htm
With the new Chinese approach to valuing its currency, other Asian countries are likely to begin valuing their currencies against the Chinese currency, rather than against the increasingly pressured American dollar.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DD4E54C1-FF0E-4DA7-B5C3-4363A933EC73.htm
The Iranian oil bourse, a new international market for oil in which the oil will be priced in Euros rather than Dollars, is slated to open next spring.
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/17450
http://xymphora.blogspot.com/2005/08/american-dollar-r-i-p.html
Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse by William R. Clark
(Friday August 05 2005) who is linked by Xymphora (on the forthcoming Iranian oil bourse)Clark was of course the originator (publicly) of the belief that the invasion of Iraq was launched essentially to snuff out the potential for crude oil sales in Euros which Saddam Hussein introduced just about the time Dubya was being sworn in after having being elected by the Supremes…. To maintain dollar hegemony, the US Trade deficit and the lifestyle of the West.
www.counterpunch.org/teague02262003.html
Central banks seek to calm dollar fears
By Anna Fifield and Song Jung-a in Seoul, David Pilling in Tokyo and Kathrin Hille in Taipei Financial Times Published: February 23 2005
It is a popular fallacy that the international FOREX market is as “free” as any market possibly could be. This article made clear that it was the heads of the major central bankers who basically operate a cartel in collusion with the Fed.
No Longer the “Lone” Superpower: Coming to Terms with China
By Chalmers Johnson March 2005
http://www.sandersresearch.com/Sanders/NewsManager/ShowNewsGen.aspx?NewsID=877
http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp105.html
Way to go! Good job to all of those who subscribe to the Pat Robertson School of Diplomacy...
Chavez: Venezuela Moves Reserves to Europe
All Associated Press NewsCARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela has moved its central bank foreign reserves out of U.S. banks, liquidated its investments in U.S. Treasury securities and placed the funds in Europe, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday.
"We've had to move the international reserves from U.S. banks because of the threats," from the U.S., Chavez said during televised remarks from a South American summit in Brazil.
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"The reserves we had (invested) in U.S. Treasury bonds, we've sold them and we moved them to Europe and other countries," he said.
Chavez, a sharp critic of what he calls "imperialist" U.S.-style capitalism, has often criticized foreign banks for the power they wield in international financial markets at the expense of poorer countries.
Chavez again proposed the creation of a South American central bank that would hold the foreign exchange reserves of all the central banks in the region.
"I'm ready right now with the Venezuelan central bank ... to move $5 billion (euro4.15 billion) (of Venezuelan reserves), to a South American bank," Chavez said.
Central bank officials could not be immediately reached for more details.
Chavez has also argued against central bank autonomy, saying excess foreign reserves should be spent on economic development projects.
Under his presidency, Venezuela's mostly pro-Chavez Congress changed central bank laws earlier this year so the government could tap reserves for spending, despite criticism that it would lead to devaluation of the local currency and higher inflation.
Every year the central bank must now compute an "optimum" amount of reserves and hand over the rest to a newly created national development fund.
Money held in the fund will be used for overseas purchases and to pay off outstanding debt.
Foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank stood at $30.434 billion (euro25.27 billion) as of Sept. 28, according to central bank data.
