There have been increasing calls from various foreign economic figures (Chinese are the most vocal, but also the Russians) to establish a new international currency for use in international trade. In this piece the author reports on a concrete development to promote this change. Such a change could have revolutionary consequences for the hegemony of the US Empire.
Given the abuses of the present world reserve currency by Empire directors, changes are, of course, justified--but what are the implications?
As I've argued before, the status of the US dollar as a safe-haven is at stake for the Empire without which the Empire couldn't exist. Empire directors sell US government paper to some extent like the Mafia use disguised threats to get protection money. Up till now, because Empire directors have been able to use the threat of violence against any adversary, the world's capitalists have purchased US government securities in order to safely store their ill-gotten wealth. (See also this piece entitled "Empire Under Obama, Part 1: Political Language and the 'Mafia Principles' of International Relations" by Andrew Gavin Marshall.)
However, as this author points out, other nations are now becoming powerful and don't like the way US capitalists are destabilizing the world economy with their reckless gambling on steroids made possible by the new derivative-types of financial instruments. Because rulers of other nations have accepted these US government securities for such a long time, our ruling class directors have caused our nation to be deeply in debt to these nations. Do you see where this might be going? Well, Colin Todhunter does:
In order to sustain its empire, US aggression is effectively pushing the world into different camps and a new cold war that could well turn into a nuclear conflict given that Russia, China and Pakistan all have nuclear weapons.
The US economy appears to be in terminal decline. The only way to prop it up is by lop-sided trade agreements or by waging war to secure additional markets and resources and to ensure the dollar remains the world reserve currency. Humankind is currently facing a number of serious problems. But, arguably, an empire in decline armed to the teeth with both conventional and nuclear weapons and trapped in a cycle of endless war in what must surely be a futile attempt to stave off ruin is the most serious issue of all.
