User Panel
Posted: 2/16/2006 2:24:17 PM EDT
www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2006/cr021506.htm
i don't agree with everything he says, particularly about Iraq, but I do think that he does a good job of explaining the precarious situation the government has gotten our economy into. some key points, much more history and information at the link:
|
||||
|
Someitmes Ron Paul comes off sounding like a loon.
US invaded Iraq to keep Saddam from demanding Euros. |
|
Tag.
There were lots of good reasons for going after Saddam. Selling oil in Euros was a one. There are lots of good reasons for going after Iran. The Euro-denominated oil bourse opeing there in March is a big one. The U.S. dollar loosing its reserve currancy status is a MUCH bigger threat to American prosperity and way of life than getting a city or two nuked. Imagine the mass starvation if the U.S. dollar lost 30% of its value? What about 50%? In that situation, the anarchy, unrest and mass starvtion would make a nuke attack on NYC or LA pale by comparrision. |
|
I'm sure that it was a consideration. It would have st a dangerous precident if Saddam got EUros for his oil. Not because Saddam exported much oil, but because it would have undermined the strength of the dollar, and therefore America's place in the world. Like I said, there were lots of good reasons to go after him. The revelations about WMDs and terrorism that have come out in the last few weeks confirm the fact the he needed to go. The Euro thing, whilst seeming insignificant was actually more dangerous. |
|
|
BINGO! The USA's amazing wealth and high standard of living is underpinned by a safe and steady supply of cheap oil. If the 'cheap' oil goes away and the US has to buy at the same store as everyone else it's going to hurt, and hurt bad. The Europeans are streets ahead of the US in energy efficiency and living with expensive oil. The going rate for a gallon of gas in the EU is about $6 a gallon and is an 'acceptable price, the US is hurting dealing with $2 a gallon. How would the US economy cope with gas at even $4 a gallon, let alone $6? ANdy |
|
|
From my understanding the dollar had approximately 13 times the purchasing power in 1946 than 2006. Imagine if that dollar lost its value another 3 or 10 times over night. (25% - 90%)
Vito's > $2 gallon gas would be $6 to $20 a gallon! This Dollar - Gold Standard > Oil Standard is one of the stealth topics no one wants to speaks about. So I agree... good read.. already am aware... so what is the solution? The guy sounds like a Dem who just found out a problem to bitch about; but has no plan. |
|
umm.. All glory is fleeting? |
|
|
Forbes magazine actually said that too, a little over a year ago. |
|
|
idk, got any ideas? i think in the long run the economy as we know it is fooked, and a new one will arise based on the gold standard. it will be a VERY painful process however. i'll probably see it played out within my lifetime. |
|
|
IBThePeopleWhoPutTheirFaithInPaperCurrency.
It could be considered unconstitutional for the Federal government to be printing money. They only have the authority to coin money. |
|
If the Euro becomes a reserve currency, and the new world trade currency, the European Central Bank will find out about a problem the Federal Reserve has been grappling with for many years: the Euro-dollar issue (they'll have to call those something else now becuase of confusion with the Euro as currency). There are about twice as many dollars floating around outside the US as within the US. The Federal Reserve has been unable to control these since the 1970s; whatever the Fed does affects only the internal workings of US banks. They are a major factor in the decline in exchange value of the dollar. The European central bank will have to deal with what I'll call World-Euros. The Euro as the ultimate fiat currency exists only because of treaties containing all sorts of percentages and agreements to maintain the appropriate ratios. Sure, the various banks have some gold, but nothing approaching a "standard." ANd, if the "emergencies" are stopped from going on forever, the national banks will have to sell gold to keep up their end of the treaties. If the Euro becomes a reserve/trade currency, the European Central bank will lose control a lot faster than the Fed.
So, oil will be 48- 50 euros a barrel. Makes no difference. The Europeans will pay the same price they do now, since they have to buy dollars with Euros. Of course, a drop in demand for dollars may depress the value of the dollar some, but that's happened before, it's temporary. One concrete concern has been alluded to by earlier posters, calling it prestige and position. I'll say "perception" which, in Economics and Finance can be self-fulfilling. But, where will everyone invest if , for example, they no longer invest in the US? In Europe? I doubt it. Europe (meaning EU and their bureaucracy) isn't going to let go of any power. Will the Chinese feel any better supporting German or French social programs than ours? ANd, what about European industrial productivity, or lack thereof? Oh, sure, the former Eastern bloc/captive nations are coming up fast in terms of percentage increases. That fools kids with pocket calculators. I remember readin an article many years ago in the "Financial Times" about a Japanese car company closing a plant they were trying to run in a Central European nation. It didn't work. Not because the quality wasn't there, it was. But, the kind of stuff that worked in plants in JApan, and some plants in the US with varying degrees of opposition, did not work in the particular country. Company songs, organized PT sessions, regimentation and a caste structure which works in Japanes industry did not work with what the "Times" called "the most independence minded people in Europe." (remaining nameless to avoid tangents. P.S. Watch the Russians. They HAVE gold. It would not surprise me if their puppets/moles in various places are part of a scheme to engineer a couple of currency collapses, which would allow a gold backed Ruble to buy up big pieces of the world. |
|
Uh, how about doing some research, Steve? Even wonder why the sabre rattling between the US and Iran is just now heating up? Here is a hint: it has very little to do with Iran's fledgling nuclear program. |
|
|
From Iran's euro-denominated oil bourse to open in March: US Dollar Crisis on the Horizon
If you ignore the rhetoric, the facts of the article are hard to dispute. The author obviously has an axe to grind against the administration, however the meat of the article is certainly verifiable. Food for though. |
|
|
Err, maybe no BINGO. Perhaps the reason Brits pay $6/gallon is because 75% of that is TAXES. We pay a 22% gasoline tax on average. |
||
|
Er maybe you are completely missing the point here..... The cost of gas right across the EU is about $6 a gallon, the economies factor that price into the equation and it acts as a natural brake on consumption and spur to energy efficiency, most cars in Europe are in the 35-45mpg class. Cheap gas prices in the US means that energy efficiency and high gas milage cars are not the norm. If the US was forced by market issues to up gas to even $4 a gallon, owning 10-20mpg SUV's is going to be a non viable proposition. GWB gets this and pointed it out in his SotU Address that the US is addicted to oil. If cheap oil ceases to be, the US is far more vulnerable than the other G8 countries. ANdy |
|||
|
I understand that, and note that this last round of high fuel prices promoted a rush on hybrids.
The point I was making is the high price of gas in the UK and other places has nothing to do with US petrodollar hegemony – it’s because your own governments are screwing you with high gasoline taxes. |
|
Lucky for us the government doesn't print money the privately-owned Federal Reserve does. |
|
|
Er, sorry, not really close, no cylindrical smoking brown leaf thingie. The U.S. is one of the world's most efficient economies when it comes to using energy. We get twice as much GDP out of a barrel of oil as China does. If the dollar collapses, it will hurt, but oil efficiency isn't going to be what kills us. You're confusing the retail price of gasoline with how much oil and petroleum products cost for industry. Just because Britain taxes gasoline to death, it doesn't mean your SUV gets better gas mileage. |
|
|
Wrong. the US values stability of supply over low price, which is why we buy most of our oil from canada, mexico, venezuela, etc. and not the cheaper providers like the middle eastern nations. We already 'buy at the same store as everyone else', oil is a fungible commodity. Everyone pays the same price, doesn't really matter if it is denominated in dollars or euros. The difference is we don't add on nearly as much taxes and regulatory overhead. You are comparing things that are not directly comparable. Also the US economy isn't really hurting at $2 prices, it is just that americans are used to lower prices and like to bitch alot. Now, all this said, european economies may indeed have less of a shock when the price of oil goes up, as they can just ditch the taxes and regulations, and presto, the price is the same, but this has nothing to do with whether the price of oil is in dollars or euros, it's the exchange rate that matters. If the dollar goes down relative to the euro, then europeans will get cheaper oil relative to us regardless if the oil is priced in dollars or euros. The strong dollar has been more of a handicap than a help to the US economy though, as it makes it hard to compete in the export market. a 30% drop in value is not all that drastic. Wouldn't be any mass starvation as we don't need to import food, don't NEED to import much at all really. That drop in value would cause an increase in exports that would more than outweigh the increased price of things that need to be imported, like oil. |
||
|
You're right, they do, but.... When we see a hike in Oil prices the various EU .Govs can either hold any rises in fuel taxation, SOP for the British economy, and reduce the spend on social programs paid for using the fuel taxes, or there is the option to reduce the tax burden in extremis. The US by virtue of it's low tax rates on fuel does not really have much leeway to do that and the costs transfer straight to the consumer. ANdy |
|
|
Our trade inbalance has not deminished at all with the recent "weak" dollar, in fact it has widened...Futhermore, if the dollar is no longer the reserve currency (hence, no longer artificially strong), we will not be able to sustain our trade deficit. |
|
|
Oil is the ONLY import that matters, at the end of the day. It is the basis of all production, including agriculture. If the world dumps dollars for Euros, and the value of the dollar collapses, then the US will pay alot more, comparitivly, for oil. That will lead to a huge inflationary spike in everything from food to clothing to computers. You don't import food, but you do import the oil and gas that makes the pesticides and fertilzier, and runs the farm machinery and trucks. It really does matter what currency oil is denominated in. The US can generate so much debt because the rest of the world needs dollars to buy oil in. If the world does not need dollars, then the value of the dollar falls. The U.S. economy is built on debt, not on manufacturing, or services or anything like that. If the dollar stops being the only currency that oil can be bought in, then the dollar will sink to its "natural" level. This will mean that oil, and every other import, will cost comparativly more than before the fall, acting as a further brake on economic activity. To put it another way, its a simple supply and demand issue. At the moment, the demand for the dollar is artificially high, as you need dollars to by oil. If you don't need dollars to by oil, demand drops, and so does the value of the dollar. Since the dollar isn't backed by anything tangible, such as gold, then the dollar will drop to the level that the market perceives its worth. This situation gets really bad if too many dollar holders jumps ship too quickly. If that happens, then you get a run on the dollar, which would be a disaster for everyone. Such an event would plunge the world into a depression. This is why countries such as Japan and China hold such massive dollar reseves, far more than they actually need. It is in their best economic interests to keep the dollar stable. Both economies rely on selling consumer goods to the US. If the US is unable to purches them, or buys less of them, then the Chinese and Japanese economies tank. The Iranian oil bourse is very, very bad news for the U.S. |
|||
|
Considering that China is becoming a major consumer of oil itself, what if Saudi and South American producers decided to accept Yuen over Euro or Dollar? Sooner or later China will reach a critical mass where it can flex its economic muscle the way US has been. |
||
|
So what happens to the average Joe? making less than $60K a year. Just able to get by as it is.
How will it effect commuters that travel 30 to 60 miles one way to work. How many business suffer when gas cost twice as much? Eating out slows, clothing fads aren't kept up with, cars aren't replaced with the next bigger size ( certain death to our big three?), consumer discresionary(sp) money is being spent on gas. How does this affect you business? I know alot of you have stock piles of stuff but what happens when it's not a complete SHTF or TEOTHWAWKI. What will the sheeple going to do when they don't have open range to hunt and supplment food supplies. What will ,gov do when you have and the sheeple don't have? Besides going down shooting.......they get all you stuff then anyhow. How do we handle a constant creep in prices. When do you pull out of it and live of the land, so to speak, if that is even possible. Does anyone have a plan of what to do when the oil price goes to $6.00 a gallon. And milk is 5.oo a gallon, food is double its current price, etc. Does anyone have honest serious answers? Iknow some will have silly answers I wonder if anyone has serious answers or links to a possible answer. |
|
Would be true if the Yuan was actually worth something. China has peggged the Yuan to the USD artificially low so that their goods are artificially cheap. This allows them to run up massive current account surpluses that they then use to further modernise their economy, and of course by weapons. Essentially, every time you buy something stamped "Made in China" you're funding the rise of China in an unusually direct way. In order for OPEC to start accepting Yuan, the Chinese will have to float it, so that it rises to something representing the true value of the economy, which is just over half the of the US (US GDP: $ 11,750 billion; PRC GDP:$ 7,262 billion; Texas GSP:$924.55 billion) (Mind you, with 1.3B ppl, China's GDP per capita is still stupidly low) |
|||
|
I'm afraid the only real answer is to learn how to live within your means. In the Western world, we have become addicted to cheap credit. If we want it, we charge it. This is bad for a number of reasons, but mainly becuase, at some point, it all has to be paid back. If you can't then you get thrown out on the street.
The best advice is to live witin your means, save money for investment in tangibles, like gold and silver (because inflation diminishes the value of savings) and try to build a career in an indispensible field. Also check out Survival Blog. Lots of good tips there. |
|
So then Bush DID lie and we DID go to war over the oil? |
||
|
You'll never hear me say it that way, but, with a VERY simplistic POV, yes. There are about half a dozen good reasons for that war; the WMD argument is just the sexiest. Try telling the American people that we need to start a war in order to prevent the dollar from losing its reserve status. Or, tell them that we need to start a war to secure FOBs in a friendly nation to allow for the removal of US troops from EU NATO bases and Saudi Arabia. Etc, etc... The WMD and human rights violations were reason enough to oust Saddamn, but they were not the most important nor them most pressing. |
|
|
|
+1 on that. They news over the last few weeks about Iraq's links to Terrorsim and WMDs has vindicated Bush et. al. on the reasons for the war. However, The decision to go to war is always complicated, and just terrorism and WMDs were not enough. The U.S. never invaded Lybiya, yet they were doing both. Ditto on Syria. There are countless other examples where the U.S. could have used terrorism and WMDs as a pretext for war. Therefore, there must have been other reasons as well. Protecting the U.S.D., and thus the safety and security of the U.S., seting up a police station in the most strategiclly important part of the world etc. are all important considerations. Lybia can't undermine U.S. security the way that oil-rich Iraq and Iran can. I'm not saying that any of this is immoral, or anything, just that its more complicated than White House Press Office soundbites portray it. In politics and marketing, you need to keep the msg simple. |
||
|
He's going to learn to do without Budweiser, Marlboro, McDonalds and his 'must-have' ATV. |
|
|
And distances that Europeans drive are typically less than in the US. SUVs aren't the reason why the US consumes more oil than Europe. |
|
|
Worse yet, he makes it sound like supporting our economy is an illegimate reason to wage war. Does Ron need to see Americans starving in the street to be reminded of what happens when the economy collapses? He should talk to my Depression-era parents and ask them to tell him what it was like to be hungry! |
|
|
I love reading conspiracy theories about foreign currency. Always entertaining. Particularly the ongoing fascination with the gold standard among libertarians. Doom is just around the corner with these people, has been for 30 years as the US has become the wealthiest country in the world. By the way, for the guy that said a 30% decline in the dollar would devastate the US, I would ask where he has been living these past few years. The dollar fell over 40% versus the euro from 2002-2004, while the US economy was still growing, and in fact grew dramatically in 2004, the worst year for the dollar. But what would I know, I just do foreign exchange for a living...
|
|
Yup, weaker dollar increases US exports as goods are cheaper overseas. However, as the US is a net importer of goods, the increase in US exports is offset by the increased price of imported goods. Being the wealthiest country in the world, we can afford to buy much more than the countries we export to, leading to our current trade deficit situation.
|
|
Tag for a macro-economics lesson.
So how will this affect interest rates, if the SHTF and the dollar plummets? |
|
That's a risk we're willing to talk. However, I think in reality, neither government would offset high oil prices with a cut in the gasoline tax. They would both screw us in the end. |
||
|
Question: How is the trade deficit financed? Answer: Foreign investment. When the dollar loses favor and the US becomes a less attractive investment, interest rates must rise. How are we going to buy all of those expensive imported goods when the Fed is forced to raise interest rates in order to attract foreign investment? If the dollar is no longer the dominate reserve currency, how can we bully foreign governments into propping up the dollar as we've done in the past? |
|
|
So just how important is our economy to the economy of other countries? How much would they be willing to do to prevent that from happening, or at what point would they just say "fuck em?" |
|
|
Conspiracy theories? Nothing particularly conspiritorial here. Oil IS denominated only in US dollars, isn't it? This DOES create an artificially high demand for USD, doesn't it? The Iranians ARE going to open a Euro-denominated oil bourse in March, aren't they? This WILL reduce demand for dollars as countries concerned about their massive dollar holdings diversify into euros because now they can and still buy oil, won't it? This drop in demand WILL reduce the value of the dollar when the bourse catches on, won't it? I picked the 30% figure out of the air. Now I might be off base here, but didn't the value of the Euro rise wrt the dollar (rather than the USD fall wrt the Euro)due to the stabilisation and acceptance of the Euro as a serious currency? It certainly wasn't due to sparkling economic growth in the Euro-zone, and as you said, US growth was high. What I'm talking about is the U.S.'s ability to purchase oil, which is at the foundation of the nation's economy. If the U.S. dollar devalues substantially, AND oil markets demand Euros, oil becomes much more expensive relative to before the devaluation. This increases inflation throughout the economy, both as a result of the the price of petrol rising, thereby affecting consumers directly and transport companies, but also due to the fact that petrochemicals represent a major input in every production industry from from agriculture to electronics. I don't actually know what devaluation coupled with inflation and its attendant interest rate rises it would take to devistate the US economy. As for my suggestion to someone about investing in gold and silver, currently, we are in the middle of a resources boom. Between 2000 and 2005 gold has doubled in price Historical Gold Price. In addition, gold is forcast to hit between US$750 and US$1000/oz in the next few years www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10004068.shtml. On top of all this, gold, silver et. al prices all rise substantially during times of economic crisis (Great Depression, Oil Shocks of the late 70's and early 80's and the Wall St. Crash of '87 as examples). The coming conflict with Iran over WMDs will surely generate an oil crisis, which in turn will spark an economic crisis, just as oil crises have done in the past. Iran is threaten to close the Staits of Hormuz, which it has tried to do before during the Tanker War between Iran and Iraq in the '80s. If Iran is sanctioned, oil prices will also rise. If Iran decides to sell only to a select few countries for political reasons, the oil price will rise. The price of oil is intriniscally linked with economic performance- for example, the price hikes in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are estimated to have knocked 1% off U.S. growth figures. Anyway you cut it, gold and silver provide security in times of economic trouble, which many, many economists say is coming. Another Scenario: Given that Chavez in Venezuala supplies most of the US's oil, AND he doesn't like you all very much, AND has made noises about selling his newly nationalised oil to other countries to spite the US, don't you think that demanding Euros for oil (now that he can) be a great way to stick it to America? Thats pure speculation, of course, but it seems reasonable. That will really hurt. |
|
|
The US economy is vital as its the biggest game in town. The US is both Japan and China's biggest markets. Japan and China will keep propping the US up until the have an alternative, or the whole thing falls over. What Europe does is provide an alternative market and reserve currency. The Euro is NOT a reserve currency but is working hard at becoming one. A Euro-denominated oil bourse would allow countries like Japan and China to diversify their dollar holdings into something as valuable as the dollar (both have been talking about it quietly), backed by a powerful (although somewhat stagnant) economy. If this diversification is done gradually, then the effects will be spread out. However, if, say, our good frinds in China felt the need to hurt the U.S., they could do so with much less damage to themselves than they could now. I seriously doubt that they would just dump the dollar wholesale, unless there were some sort of panic, or there was some political reason to do so. |
||
|
|
Problem is, what and how much goods are we actually exporting? textile? automobiles? electronic goods? |
|
|
|
|
An attack on Iran would probably provide the necessary 'panic'. ANdy |
|
|
The petroeuro threat
By Joel Bainerman February 16, 2006 This article originally appeared in Haaretz and is reprinted with the author's permission. Most Israelis believe that nuclear ambitions are the reason the U.S. is so annoyed with Iran. But there could be another reason entirely for war-drums in Washington: an existential threat in the form of the IOB. On March 20th, 2006, Iran is planning to open an International Oil Bourse (IOB) that would trade oil -- priced in euros. The world currently conducts all oil trades in U.S. dollars. In fact the term petro-dollar was coined in 1973, to mean a dollar that a country earns through selling oil. The Iranians have developed a petroeuro system for oil trade which, when enacted, could threaten U.S. dollar supremacy. If the IOB only accepts the euro for oil, any country could buy oil from any oil-producing nation using euros instead of dollars. The Iranian plan is not limited to purchasing one oil-producing country's oil with euros. The petroeuro would create a global alternative to the U.S. dollar and further momentum at OPEC to create an alternate currency for oil purchases worldwide. China, Russia, and the European Union are currently evaluating the Iranian plan to exchange oil for euros. The IOB would compete with New York's NYMEX and London's IPE with respect to international oil trades - using a euro-denominated international oil-trading mechanism. Without some form of U.S. intervention, the euro would establish a firm foothold in the international oil trade. The threat to the U.S. Why does the U.S. need to keep oil priced in dollars? With oil trade exclusively in dollars, the world's countries must maintain a certain level of U.S. currency in the reserves of their central bank to finance oil purchases. At the end of 2000, the Bank for International Settlements estimated world dollar reserves of $1.45 trillion, or 76% of the total world reserves of $1.09 trillion. If oil was priced in other currencies, most countries would have little need to stockpile dollars. All the currency the U.S. government has printed over the years would be of value only in the U.S. This would flood the U.S. with dollars and trigger huge inflation. In addition, current and future trade and current account deficits would no longer be financed by non-U.S. nations who purchase American Treasury bills and other U.S.-dominated debt instruments. In other words, the U.S. would no longer be an economic superpower and be able to finance the massive trade and budget deficits it is currently running. The United States must borrow $665 billion annually from foreign lenders to finance the gap between payments to and receipts from the rest of the world. With no improvement in the current account deficit, the external debt of the United States will rise from 24% of total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2003 to 64% by 2014. The cost of servicing just the additional debt incurred from 2004 to 2014 will rise to 1.7% of GDP by 2014, the equivalent of $250 billion in 2004 dollars. Oil currency and foreign policy In a brilliant essay on this subject entitled A Macroeconomic and Geostrategic Analysis of the Unspoken Truth, economist William Clark and author of Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar, wrote in January 2003 that the greatest nightmare over at the Fed is that OPEC will switch from a dollar standard to a euro standard. "Iraq actually made this switch," Clark points out. "The real reason the Bush administration wants a puppet government in Iraq or more importantly, the reason why the corporate-military-industrial network wants a puppet government in Iraq is so that it will revert back to a dollar standard." Evidence of the U.S. acting out of concern over their dollar hegemony can be seen in the war with Iraq. In September 2000 Iraq began selling all oil exports in euros. The euro then increased in value which added much profitability to European operations. The U.S. invaded and shortly thereafter (four months to be exact) reverted all Iraqi oil trades back to the U.S. dollar as well as nullifying previous foreign contracts. Two months after the United States invaded Iraq, the Oil for Food Program was ended, the country's accounts were switched back to dollars, and oil began to be sold once again for U.S. dollars. No longer could the world buy oil from Iraq with the euro. The U.S. dollar's global supremacy was restored. Well-known Russian oil economist, Dr. Krassimir Petrov, agrees with Clark's conclusions. He says that the Chinese and the Japanese will also accept the new exchange, because it will allow them to drastically lower their enormous dollar reserves and diversify with euros, thus hedging against the depreciation of the dollar. One portion of their dollars they will still want to hold onto; a second portion of their dollar holdings they may decide to dump outright; a third portion of their dollars they will decide to use up for future payments without replenishing those dollar holdings, but building up instead their euro reserves, Petrov predicts. . The Russians have inherent economic interest in adopting the euro, he says: the bulk of their trade is with European countries, with the oil exporters, and with China and Japan. "Adoption of the Euro will immediately take care of the first two blocs, and will over time facilitate trade with China and Japan," he postulates. "The Russians seemingly detest holding depreciating dollars, for they have recently found a new religion with gold. Russians have also revived their nationalism, and if embracing the euro will stab the Americans, they will gladly do it and smugly watch the Americans bleed." Moral of the story: Don't always believe what you read in the papers. web.israelinsider.com/Views/7828.htm |
|
So if Iran dropped the nuclear weapon issue, we would still come up with a reason to invade because Iran is creating the petroeuro (IOB)?
How lucky for us that they are anti-semits and are building nuclear weapons otherwise we wouldn't have a reason to unlease the dogs of war upon them. OR to say it another way..... So if they dropped the retoric against Israel and stopped building towards nuclear weapons we would have to come up with a reason to destroy them because they plan on creating the petroeuro? How fortunate they have given us good reasons to bomb them. |
|
The US currency was doomed when it left the gold standard, pretty simply.
It's just that no president wants it to fall on his watch, and no pres/congress wants to be the ones to deal with all the financial chickens coming home to roost. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. The US is the main driver of inflation worldwide, it can't continue forever. ~ |
|
Not at all. The dollar is not a true fiat currency because it went from being backed by gold to being backed by oil. That is why this potential petrodollar to petroeuro transition is so important. |
|
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.