With the U.S. government using its influence in the international financial system and the worldwide use of the dollar as weapons, this kind of shift away from this system is likely to increase. The dollar’s value is supported by, among other things, its use in international energy and illegal drug deals. Pepe Escobar writes:
“… talking about anxiety in Washington, there’s the fate of the petrodollar to consider, or rather the “thermonuclear” possibility that Moscow and Beijing will agree on payment for the Gazprom-CNPC deal not in petrodollars but in Chinese yuan. One can hardly imagine a more tectonic shift, with Pipelineistan intersecting with a growing Sino-Russian political-economic-energy partnership. Along with it goes the future possibility of a push, led again by China and Russia, toward a new international reserve currency – actually a basket of currencies – that would supersede the dollar (at least in the optimistic dreams of BRICS members).”
Streetwise Professor is not impressed:
Putin travels to China this week, and the big item on the agenda is the supposed signing of a long-awaited gas deal.
“I’ve seen this show many times before, going back to 2004. Much fanfare ahead of the meeting! A deal is signed! But the price is TBD. Meaning there is no real deal. And then the charade occurs again a couple of years later.”