Currency Wars

One of the most overused phrases in economic discussions is “petrodollar”, especially by those inclined to doomsday theories. Right behind it is the phrase “reserve currency”, which gets tossed around almost as much as petrodollar. For most people, these are terms that no longer have a practical meaning. They are words that are supposed to mean something bad. The petrodollar as the world’s reserve currency is the tool of the evil money men in Washington.

For starters, the petrodollar is not a real thing. It is simply a term to express the fact that in the 1970’s the large oil producing countries agreed to use the dollar. If you want to buy crude from the Saudis, they accept dollars and dollar equivalents. They will accept Chinese yuan or Vietnamese dong, but they will be converted to dollars. In the case of Vietnam, they may discount the exchange due to administrative costs. Otherwise, they turn the dong into dollars.

This agreement to price energy products in dollars is what makes the dollar the world’s primary reserve currency. Everyone needs energy, so if the energy guy will always take dollars for payment, then the world will always keep a supply of dollars around, not just for energy purchases, but as a reserve. In other words, the dollar’s position as the primary reserve currency is tied to the fact that energy is priced in dollars, so everyone has to have dollars around to buy energy.

Now, why did the Saudis agree to price everything in dollars. The main reason is they got something for it in return. What they got is a guarantee that the United States would protect the kingdom from threats in the region and never side with the wrong faction among the Saudi royal family. That last part is important. Joe Biden, as Vice President,  sided with the faction opposing Mohammed bin Salman, the current Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.

This is why the Saudis are now open to pricing their energy products in Chinese yuan and maybe other currencies. Since Russian products are now priced in rubles, the ruble has become one of the strongest and most stable currencies in the world. Lots of countries now need to hold rubles, because lots of countries need to buy Russian energy and agricultural products. Lots of people need to buy Chinese manufactured goods, so you can see the appeal there as well.

To finish the thought on the Saudis, they no longer see Washington holding up their end of that bargain struck fifty years ago. Russia and China, on the other hand, are willing to help in that regard. The Chinese brokered a deal between the Saudis and Iran, which is an enormous development. Iran backs the rebels in Yemen and the Saudis back anti-regime forces in Iran. This new deal solves a problem for both countries and makes the Chinese the honest broker of the region.

Further up the road, the Russians have slowly been putting together a deal between the Turks and the Syrians to end the long bloody war in Syria. That war is the result of regime change efforts by Washington aimed at Syria. The Turks had been party to that scheme, but they have changed teams and now oppose regime change. The looming settlement of this problem, brokered by the Russians, will alter the dynamics in the region and further push Washington out of the picture.

Taken together, the regional players are now looking to Russia and China to help keep the peace and be the honest broker. Getting back to that old deal between Washington and Riyad, if Washington is no longer keeping the peace, then why only accept Washington’s money for energy products? If the world is increasingly comfortable holding yuan, to buy Chinese goods, and rubles, to buy Russian products, why not hold those currencies and accept them for payment?

This is why arguments like this one promoted by Darren Beatty at Revolver News miss the point of what is happening with the dollar. The writer just assumes that because things have always been this way, they will always be this way. It is as if he thinks the dollar has magical qualities that make it the primary reserve currency. The dollar’s value in the world is pegged to practical things. If those practical things decline in value or disappear, then the dollar loses its power.

What is taking shape is that the global conflict between the Global American Empire and the emerging power centers of the world will include a currency war. Both China and Russia clearly get this aspect of the conflict. Both countries are working to not only make their currencies more stable, but they are also building out the infrastructure to make dealing in their currencies easier. China and Russia are making it easier to do business with them in their currency.

What is happening is that as we move from the monopolar world of the post-Cold War era to the multipolar world, we are sliding into a currency war. As a practical matter, Washington will no longer be able to abuse the dollar as it has recklessly done for the last thirty years. This means Washington will not be able to export inflation in the form of excess dollars to other countries. Those other countries will now have choices, with regards to investment and reserves.

This does not mean the collapse of the dollar or a collapse of the empire, at least it is not a foregone conclusion. Instead, it means Washington must enter a period of reform similar to what followed the Second World War and the collapse of the gold-backed dollar in the 1970’s. Currency wars are the result of changing political and economic relationships that demand changes in money relations. The petrodollar solved a problem at the time and its end solves a problem of this time.

Whether or not there is the talent in the ruling class to pull off the needed reforms is the great question that looms over this currency war. The Fed chair is obviously in over his head, but there is no one in Washington noticing this. The current administration is staffed by lunatics and buffoons. The Republican side is trapped in the last century, unable to accept that the world has moved on from the 1980’s. Prospects for reform are grim at the moment, which is what makes for a crisis.

Even so, we are entering a period similar to the 1970’s in that we will have periods of inflation along with declining real growth. Unreliable money relations make for unreliable economic relations. America emerged from the last century as the global hegemon because she won the currency wars of the last century. The disposition of the American empire will be defined by the new currency war and what comes out the other side of the process will also be defined by the currency war.


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Bear Claw Chris Lapp
Bear Claw Chris Lapp
1 year ago

Revolver is a joke, it ranks right up there with The lancet.

Dinodoxy
Dinodoxy
1 year ago

That revolver article is funny.

The guy breezily dismisses the idea that the dollar’s status is driven by US military supremacy. And then sites as his first point supporting that assertion that the US is still the world’s hyper power – unmatched militarily.

The res of the article is just hand waving to obscure the reality he refutes – then embraces in the first paragraph.

Jordi
Jordi
1 year ago

The petro-dollar gave the GAE a few exorbitant privileges

They could print money out of nothing and exhange it with other countries against real assets (industrial products or oil). In the future, America will have to trade something valuable against what it purchases,

Hence a sharp future decline in leaving standards, extremely easy to observe every time you do your groceries

Truth Simon
Truth Simon
1 year ago

Good post. Z. The only problem with this post is the very problem now at the center of dissident politics. Demographics. Everyone is on here posting about currency reforms and re-shoring industry, et cetera. The problem is we are now/becoming a minority white country. This includes pleasures like a 1 party state, lack of talent/skilled workforce, et cetera. Managerialism will continue to grow because the population wanting it is growing and the population not interested is declining. The GAE is not reformable because it committed ethnic suicide already. Manufacturing industry is not coming back to the United States, the currency… Read more »

Vxxc
Vxxc
1 year ago

Z- we’re not in the 1970s either. Inflation and currency wars are not our worst problems, we’re in the 2020s and both the American people and the American Empire are fighting for survival, with each other as mortal flow. America can no longer go on half Nation and Half Empire, one or the other must win. We 🇺🇸 Are going to War, actually Wars. Certainly abroad, probably at home. We 🇺🇸 The United States of America are rapidly reshoring industry as WE are going to War. This could not be clearer, it’s when and Who. My Dears on this the… Read more »

ProZNoV
ProZNoV
Reply to  Vxxc
1 year ago

I’m reliably informed that the US has some super secret wonder weapons that are going to shock the world (PRO, I guess?).

Also told that they’re one-time-use, irreplaceable once spicy times commence. Think “rod-of-god” type stuff. (CON, once the US adversaries figure it out. They’re going to be uber pissed off.).

All this to stop things like the belt and road initiatives, which would make the US Navy superfluous for most of the world’s population.

Are we the baddies?

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  Vxxc
1 year ago

We’re in a race war and you’ll talk about anything but that.

Notciv Nat
Notciv Nat
Reply to  Vxxc
1 year ago

Ok, boomer.

None of this is possible because the people that made the empire possible are/have committed ethnic suicide. America is not coming back to 1985 because the ethnic make up of our population will not allow it. White people are headed for a very small fractional minority status in America. The Empire will straggle on until it uses the last talent/money/blood of white people up. How do you go bankrupt? Slowly at first and then all at once. The same will happen to nation as the white people die off/continue to ethnically cleanse themselves.

RealityRules
RealityRules
1 year ago

This was a very interesting post, and there were a lot of interesting responses. It seems very clear that the reform means greater budgetary and fiscal discipline. It means that we will need to pay our debts out of production and not money printing, borrowing and offshore money flows. That will mean a radical curtailment in government spending, or a default on the debt. Even a curtailment may mean a partial default. Of course, there will be no way around the pension and stock market pain this will cause as well. This may be just as well. Better to bring… Read more »

Maestro Fresh Z
Maestro Fresh Z
1 year ago

Z said: “The Fed chair is obviously in over his head, but there is no one in Washington noticing this.” I would be really curious about Z or other’s take on Tom Luongo’s thesis that Powell is now temporarily on our side. This whole shitstorm of international finance is mind-numbingly complicated and, I think, deliberately so. To greatly simplify, if the Fed raises rates (which it is doing) it screws over certain GAE factions (Davos, Blackrock etc.) but controls inflation for the middle class. If the Fed cuts rates and goes back to QE, the assholes (GAE) are relieved of… Read more »

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  Maestro Fresh Z
1 year ago

If Powell is in over his head, what the hell does that make Yellen?

Bilejones
Member
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
1 year ago

There’s been a constant back story about Yellen, having been affirmed upward as a bint who ticked all (or most) of the right boxes, effortlessly rose to a height where the real world vanished.
Powell is an improvement, he’s merely baffled.
The millennium so far, ain’t looking good.

Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
Reply to  Maestro Fresh Z
1 year ago

That theory seems, at best, like wishful thinking to me. At worst, it’s deliberately misleading. No, the chairman of the federal reserve is not going to save us. It should be common knowledge to everyone here at this point that the central bank is the belly of the beast. Powell is not and never will be your friend. The reality of the situation is the fed’s policies have enable all of the evil things that the DoD, federal government, Wall Street, etc. have been up to for over a century now. This includes the ridiculous things the fed did during… Read more »

DFCtomm
Member
1 year ago

Instead, it means Washington must enter a period of reform similar to what followed the Second World War and the collapse of the gold-backed dollar in the 1970’s.

++++++++

You had me to right there and then I had to chuckle. Washington is incapable of economic or monetary reform. The current chuckle heads can’t do it, and so we’ll need new chuckle heads and that means an event must happen that will cause them to lose their position.

karl von hungus
karl von hungus
1 year ago

this may sound like a stupid question (and maybe it is) but what’s to stop a country from ‘creating’ $1T out of thin air?

DLS
DLS
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

Backed by what?

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

“this may sound like a stupid question (and maybe it is) but what’s to stop a country from ‘creating’ $1T out of thin air?” Not a stupid question. Any country can do it. Zimbabwe does it with far bigger sums. They have 100 trillion dollar banknotes. The problem is to get someone to accept that money created ex nihilo in exchange for real goods. The USA has used military coercion to achieve this and also the fact that in the past the USD actually used to be backed by a manufacturing base and/or the USD was 25% backed by gold… Read more »

Andrew
Andrew
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

In a technical sense, absolutely nothing. In a practical sense, there are a couple things that keep that impulse in check. First, devaluing a currency reduces it’s value to voluntary users. Not everyone who currently uses a given currency, like the dollar, have to use it (US citizens living in territory have to, of course, but foreigners in foreign countries aren’t necessarily forced to, so it’s important to provide stability in order to keep them using the dollar). Second, rapid inflation destabilizes prices, which encourages spending and discourages lending. In America’s particular situation, making dollars worth less in real terms… Read more »

Bilejones
Member
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

Money, as opposed to currency, has three functions; A means of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value. Wanton printing makes a mockery of the first- everybody wants a one way exchange- to exchange dollars as soon as they get them, hopelessly complicates the second and destroys the third. It is the last act of a desperate regime.

3g4me
3g4me
1 year ago

Zman – Another stellar post. And a terrific and very educational comment thread, gentlemen. Many thanks for all the informative and witty comments, gentlemen!

miforest
Member
1 year ago

one thing not addressed. it they decided that they would only do business in yuan, the Chinese would have us by the short hairs. we would have to exchange dollars for yuan to buy the manufactured goods we need. America lasts about a month without Chinese manufactured medicines and maintenance parts.
if your look at the WEF video on the world in 2030 they said in 2020 ” The US won’t be the world’s leading superpower, a handful of nations will dominate. ” their exact words . https://m.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/videos/10153982130966479/?locale2=ga_IE

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  miforest
1 year ago

A handful means more than 2. It usually means more than 3. It’s hard to picture more than 3.

But it is easy to picture 2 or 3

anon
anon
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

USA, Russia, China, India, Germany(?), Japan, South Korea, Turkey, one of the Central Asian stans, Brazil and maybe a couple more.

The USA will still be a force to contend with but it will not be the only one.

Intelligent Dasein
Intelligent Dasein
Member
1 year ago

I don’t think it’s true or fair to say that Jerome Powell is in over his head. He may be one of the only important persons in the Western world who isn’t. He is a very different animal from Bernanke and Yellen. They were academics; he is an old private equity guy with wizened experience of skin in the game. I consider him one of the very few beacons of sanity in this world, and I pray for him.

james wilson
james wilson
Member
Reply to  Intelligent Dasein
1 year ago

Agree. The Fed chairman, that is, even an honest and sound man, has as much chance to steer a sound monetary policy now as, as Z has written, elections do in changing the ways of imbedded government in this era. And no one has sat over a shitstorm of this magnitude, inclunding 1929.

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
1 year ago

OT:

Meanwhile, in France, the police are now beating women for WEARING face rags:

https://twitter.com/Ak_bh2047/status/1636600861978951681

I hate this timeline.

Bobo
Bobo
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
1 year ago

Good, I am sick and tired of seeing face diapers

KGB
KGB
Reply to  Bobo
1 year ago

I won’t interact with someone wearing a face rag at this point. And yet, in the Far East, entire nations of supposedly high IQ people continue to wear them. Is this it? Is this now permanent in their countries?

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  KGB
1 year ago

KGB: Communitarian and compliant bugmen.

c matt
c matt
Reply to  KGB
1 year ago

I thought they always wore them bc of pollution. They wore them preCOVID.

SidVic
SidVic
Reply to  c matt
1 year ago

Can confirm, i saw many Japs wearing masks back in 2000 when I was there. They would wear when they were sick to limit the exposure of others.

ProZNoV
ProZNoV
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
1 year ago

Face rags enable enormous amounts of criminal activity.

They were illegal in the south for decades, because no one wanted to be outed as a KKK sympathizer.

Cameras are everywhere. Storage is cheap. Computerized facial recognition gets every better. Those in power on the left know that their shock troops won’t engage unless they can wear their masks to do their dirty work.

JerseyJeffersonian
JerseyJeffersonian
Reply to  ProZNoV
1 year ago

We need a new sign for the doors of businesses:

No Mask, or No Service (and a gun pointed preemptively at your face).

AnotherAnon
AnotherAnon
1 year ago

Trust – that is the essential ingredient the US has squandered … trust is irreplaceable. The only reason the EU stays in our corner is they prefer an American hegemon across the Atlantic over a German or German/Russian hegemon next door. As the rest of the world finds its way to alternative stability alliances, they tip toe around insane Washington like DC is a demented uncle playing with dynamite in the attic. Putin brought tactical nukes into Belarus as a smart precaution, because he fully appreciates the level of insanity coming out of our capitol. It was a smart move… Read more »

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  AnotherAnon
1 year ago

Would take at least a couple of generations merely to begin rebuilding it, if begun right now

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  AnotherAnon
1 year ago

“Putin brought tactical nukes into Belarus as a smart precaution, because he fully appreciates the level of insanity coming out of our capitol.”

Virtually everything poor Putin does is merely a reaction to western aggression and provocation. Same here. This piece explains what happened:

https://www.indianpunchline.com/moscow-calls-out-us-rules-based-order-in-europe/

trackback
1 year ago

[…] Currency Wars   […]

James Nelson
James Nelson
1 year ago

“they turn the dong into dollars.”
Are they porno film stars?

Ron Jeremy
Ron Jeremy
Reply to  James Nelson
1 year ago

“I’m Ron Jeremy, and I approve this comment.”

Jannie
Jannie
1 year ago

Andrew Curtis made an interesting documentary touching on the US-Saudi relationship going back to FDR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pn2z7zp1V0

george 1
george 1
1 year ago

JMHO. The only thing in the long term that can save the dollar is for America to reindustrialize. Real GDP, not phony GDP as counted by Washington, is what makes a currency strong. That would prove very difficult to impossible now due to our social capital.

America at this point just does not produce enough valuable and useful things.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  george 1
1 year ago

Reindustrialize would kill the dollar as the GFC – and that would be a good thing.

You can’t have the GFC without trade deficits. Reindustrialize and those trade deficits go away, starving the global trading and banking system of dollars, forcing them to use other currencies.

The GFC and trade deficits go hand in hand.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Is that really true? The US ran a trade surplus in the 1950s and 1960s. The deficits didn’t start until the 70s.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

Before the early 1970s, the dollar will implicitly linked to gold. You could argue that gold was the GFC. Most currencies were pegged to the dollar, but the dollar was pegged to gold. People used the dollar, but the real currency was gold. After we closed the gold window and the dollar became the end of the line, that’s when the deficits started to show up. If we reduced our trade deficits to zero, how would China, Europe and Japan get enough dollars to buy energy and food? The value of the dollar would skyrocket. That’s the irony of all… Read more »

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

“If we reduced our trade deficits to zero, how would China, Europe and Japan get enough dollars to buy energy and food? “The value of the dollar would skyrocket.” That’s not correct. Why should these countries use dollars at all? No need. If China wants to buy oil and gas from Russia, or from Saudi, for that matter, it doesn’t need to use dollars. The real US economy is a small an declining percentage of the real world economy. That’s the crux of the problem. It’s not like the halcyon days of the immediate post-WW2 period, when the USA accounted… Read more »

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Arshad, You’re wrong on every point. “Why should these countries use dollars at all?” These countries may not need the dollar to buy some energy and food, but I’m talking about the entire world’s need for dollars. Most other countries will still need dollars to buy oil, nat gas and food. And what about other trade. Around 80% of trade globally is done in dollars. In North and South America, it’s 96%. In Asia, it’s 74%. Hell, even in Europe, it’s 20%. The world needs dollars to trade and that’s not just for oil. It’s everything. Just as importantly, there’s… Read more »

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

“Most other countries will still need dollars to buy oil, nat gas and food.”

That’s not correct. The point is they’re not going to be buying oil and nat gas from the USA. Why then to use dollars? If USD, why not Zimbabwean dollars, for that matter, with the same argument? Suppose Saudi, Kuwait, and UAE say, “You can pay us in rubles or yuan.” Why then a need to hold dollars?

Eugene
Eugene
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

“Britain’s economy and empire had been falling fast since the end of WW1”.

Not true.

Uk’s economy in the 50s was a joke
Hmmm. Dealing with the aftermath of WW2 but still in a situation where Eisenhower was trying to get them into war in Vietnam to aid the putative US intervention.

JR Wirth
JR Wirth
1 year ago

One thing to take into consideration is that Paul Volcker gave us a 30 year lifeline on the dollar because he concentrated on its internal value. Part of the deal in having vast amounts of foreign wealth held in dollars is that it generally holds its internal value. It’s not the Brazilian Real. Given what’s been happening, the future inflation level will tell us how long the dollar has. Even the current 6% level is not acceptable for them in the long term. However, we get back to the sordid topic of national debt finance. Interest rates are sort of… Read more »

karl von hungus
karl von hungus
Reply to  JR Wirth
1 year ago

current inflation of 6%?? i would love it if the inflation rate were that low!

JR Wirth
JR Wirth
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

On paper. Sure, you can add a couple percent. No one really knows with government stats. Which is why TIPS aren’t doing anything right now.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

karl von hungus: Agreed. We were discussing this same matter with a friend the other night and my husband suggested it would be far more accurate to put a ‘1’ before that ‘6.’

DLS
DLS
Reply to  3g4me
1 year ago

Agreed. Just anecdotally based on my own basket of goods, it feels like about 15%. As a double check, having lived through the 70s, I can attest it feels pretty similar. The BLS calculations were changed in the late 90s to drive down the official inflation measure, implementing circular calculations like changing product weightings for high/low inflation items (substitution effect), trying to filter out product improvements, and swapping out home prices for esoteric comparable rent calculations.

c matt
c matt
Reply to  DLS
1 year ago

The BLS calculations

You got an extra letter in there.

Mr. House
Mr. House
1 year ago

Zman, whats 30 trillion with 10% rates attached to it???

😉

The end of empire.

karl von hungus
karl von hungus
Reply to  Mr. House
1 year ago

is any of that $30T in long term notes?

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  karl von hungus
1 year ago

longer i believe, but it won’t matter when people stop buying the debt period.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operation-twist.asp

karl von hungus
karl von hungus
Reply to  Mr. House
1 year ago

i was thinking long term notes won’t be affected by an increase in interest rates.

imbroglio
imbroglio
1 year ago

Don’t mean to be fanciful but Say’s Law notes that goods and services are exchanged for goods and services. Money in the form of currency makes it more efficient. But money could be anything used to set prices for exchange. Units of energy measured on some reliable scale. Credits discounted for the time value of savings/consumption measured in minutes, hours, days etc. accompanied by enforceable payment schedules while gambling unto derivates into the quadrillions could render money markets meaningless.

ray
ray
1 year ago

‘In the case of Vietnam, they may discount the exchange due to administrative costs. Otherwise, they turn the dong into dollars.’

. . . thereby having a great deal in common with American women!

JR Wirth
JR Wirth
1 year ago

“As a practical matter, Washington will no longer be able to abuse the dollar as it has recklessly done for the last thirty years.” – That would require brain cells alive and firing in their heads. It’s going to be the opposite, more like that f-ag at work who, perceiving that no one “likes him” anymore becomes even more fa-g-otty and queen like until management points to him and says “just go, you’re disturbing everyone.” We’ll probably file an EEO lawsuit in Federal Court against the entire world.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  JR Wirth
1 year ago

It is said that if you owe the bank 100 grand you have a problem, but if you owe the bank 100 million the bank has a problem. I think about this when I look at globohomo’s debtors. And at globohomo’s fading military.

miforest
Member
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

the problem is that We are the creditors. our pension plans, 401k,IRA, or IRA are credit instruments . the firm holding them OWES you money . much of it in treasury bonds . if they don’t get paid , neither do you. it he firem you have your money deposited in fails , no money for you because you are an unsecured creditor to them

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

“I think about this when I look at globohomo’s debtors. And at globohomo’s fading military.”

The debtors know this. The Chinese know they’re going to take a massive haircut on their treasury holdings (in terms of real purchasing power). And there’s nothing they can do about it. For sure they’re not going to throw good money after bad. They will lump it. Life goes on.

Tars Tarkas
Tars Tarkas
1 year ago

What’s the deal with Evergrande and the Chinese banking sector more generally? I keep hearing about all the problems, and they seem rather large, but nothing continues to happen.

Also, I hear there is a ton of Dollar denominated debt and contracts all over the world. I hear this is one of the major linchpins of Dollar hegemony.

Bartleby the Scrivner
Bartleby the Scrivner
1 year ago

It’s weird, but last night, after the story about Rand Paul’s staffer being stabbed, I couldn’t find a picture or a description of the offender, even though he was supposedly arrested.

I thought,”hmm, I wonder if there are any inferences I can make due to the lack of info”.

Aannnnd, he’s black.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  Bartleby the Scrivner
1 year ago

Of course. Now let’s follow the life history of the Tennessee school shooter. Hint, they are white washing her as we speak.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Compsci
1 year ago

Compsci: They are also explicitly ‘dead-naming’ her/it and ‘misgendering’ it. And deliberately referring to her by her given, middle, and last names – there’s a definite and familiar pattern to the official pronouncements.

(((They))) Live
(((They))) Live
Reply to  Bartleby the Scrivner
1 year ago

And then there was that school shooting, no description of the shooter, must be a jogger I think to myself, well I got that one wrong

Evil Sandmich
Evil Sandmich
Reply to  (((They))) Live
1 year ago

Fedi called it pretty quick as they knew it had to be a tranny of some sort, though a black tranny would have been icing on the cake.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  (((They))) Live
1 year ago

Correct. But now we are seeing a revelation of a “mentally ill” person as illustrated by her “transition” and her social media support environment. This is why I never mince words describing these *delusional, mentally ill* individuals. They are sick people, not just folk marching to a different drummer. Of course, the other side is fighting—with MSM full support—to control/regain the narrative. The alternative narrative being that societal repression of trans people made this person into a killer. Lot’s of mention of the current bills in many legislatures to rein in Drag Queen story hours and irreversible medical “transition” procedures… Read more »

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Btw, the irony of the Eurodollar system that so dominates the world and that Russia is trying to defeat is that it was create by the Soviet Union. In the 1950s, the Soviets had accumulated a lot of dollars held in US banks. Fearful, that the US might seize those dollars, it moved them to European banks. However, the Soviets didn’t want to convert the dollars to the local currencies because it needed dollars for trade settlements (sound familiar) so it keep the money denominated in dollar but held at European banks. The banks then started to make dollar-denominated loans… Read more »

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

In the late last century, the Argentina banks had dollar denominated accounts. Lots of people opened them and used them as an alternative store of wealth to the Argentina peso. Not a problem. One day, without warning, the government seized all these accounts and converted them to pesos at the current rate. The Courts held this action as legal as the account holders suffered no “loses”. Then, within weeks, the government let the valise of the peso “float” against the dollar. The depositors who formally had dollars, took a 50% haircut on their pesos. Argentina soon fell into bankruptcy and… Read more »

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  Compsci
1 year ago

“One day, without warning, the government seized all these accounts and converted them to pesos at the current rate. The Courts held this action as legal as the account holders suffered no “loses”. Then, within weeks, the government let the valise of the peso “float” against the dollar. The depositors who formally had dollars, took a 50% haircut on their pesos. “Argentina soon fell into bankruptcy and hyperinflation, and remain their till this day.” There was an official rate of 1-1 for the peso against the dollar and a black market rate of 3-1. The government converted the dollar accounts… Read more »

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

I’m not an economist, but I can spot the strong horse, the not as strong horse, and the weak horse, so I can recognize that the Euro will fail before the US dollar does. That’s the canary in the coal mine lens through which I look at this. Corollated: I’ve posted before that the ultimate power move to “save” the dollar would be to wreck the Euro and force Europe into using the USD. I don’t know if the brain trust is smart enough to do that, but it is ruthless enough. The petrodollar, while important, is not as important… Read more »

Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

“One doesn’t normally think of sodomy as an important factor in currency wars but in clown world it’s a critical point.”

That gives the phrase “turning the dongs into dollars” a whole new meaning.

Mr. Generic
Mr. Generic
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

> One doesn’t normally think of sodomy as an important factor in currency wars but in clown world it’s a critical point.

From petrodollar to pedodollar? Honk! Honk!

Tars Tarkas
Tars Tarkas
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

The whole EU project is evil. If they do indeed “suffer” the collapse of the Euro, it’s probably for the best. I don’t see them ever agreeing to use the Dollar. The sooner the EU breaks up the better.

Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
1 year ago

Which entity lasts longer intact — The European Union or The United States of America?

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Oswald Spengler
1 year ago

What makes you think the Europeans won’t flip? Being the cowards that they are by following whatever stupidity we do, you don’t think they’ll look east and flip? WW3 over without a shot fired.

imnobody00
imnobody00
Reply to  Mr. House
1 year ago

No, our politicians are bought by AINO. They won’t flip. You can see it with the reaction of Germany to the Nordstream fiasco.

We are going down with you on your way to hell.

c matt
c matt
Reply to  Oswald Spengler
1 year ago

I’d have to go with the US. The Europeanz still have enough residual nationality and individual culture to make breakup seem natural if not beneficial. US is older as a single entity and we really haven’t thought of ourselves as separate nations since the War of Northern Aggression.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
1 year ago

The idea of getting them to use the USD derives from a hypothetical scenario in which they don’t have a better choice.

Tars Tarkas
Tars Tarkas
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

The better choice is to go back to using local currencies. The Euro was only introduced like 24 years ago. The Euro has been the root of monetary troubles for over 2 decades. Greece and Germany should not be using the same currency.

The whole EU project is one big exercise in expert management failure.

imnobody00
imnobody00
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
1 year ago

Before the Euro was implemented, I said that it was an awful idea. I was young back then.

The Southern European countries have been deindustrialized and impoverished because of the Euro but the system has not collapsed, thank you to the creative finance and constant propaganda our elites are so fond of.

Of course, the Euro is doomed to fail but, as the Keynes saying goes, “Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”. After decades of waiting my time to say “I told you so”, I am still waiting.

Steve
Steve
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
1 year ago

Agreed, Tarkas. I just learnt that the EU has decided to ban ICE cars by 2035. When did we vote on that? They are crazed megalomaniacs and their end can’t come soon enough.

RealityRules
RealityRules
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

Thank you for the laugh. I think we need the Zoar Index, aka the Internal Buggering Preference Index. Well done!

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

It’s telling that Russia and China were very prepared for the currency war and the sanctions against Russia. Putin knew that invading Ukraine was (potentially) going to be wider war than just military actions. Putin and Xi have been working on this problem for a very long time. Both stopped adding to their treasury reserves around ten years ago. But this war goes beyond governments and their holding of treasuries. A big part of this war will come down to whether the banks will want to continue using the dollar as their main currency for settlements and making loans. The… Read more »

Captain Willard
Captain Willard
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Great post and explanation. You (Citizen) know this, but for others’ benefit here I would just point out that there are trillions – yes trillions – of Eurodollar debts around the world that must be serviced or refinanced into something other than dollars to dislodge the dollar as GRC. This will take many many years.

You also importantly point out the Triffin Paradox. Perhaps Bitcoin could have solved this, maybe it still could, but The US is at war against Bitcoin too.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Captain Willard
1 year ago

You’re correct. And you bring up a subtle but important issue. The dollar is the GRC, but the US treasury is the global reserve asset (GRA). There’s a difference. The dollar could remain the GRC (or, at least, the main trading currency) while the treasury is unseated as the GRA. Central banks and banks hold treasuries to quickly access dollars in an emergency, but what if another asset – gold, bitcoin, some commodity-back asset – takes over the roll of treasuries? I see that as more of a possibility that the dollar being unseated as the GRC. That would be… Read more »

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Citizen: Was sharing your comment with my husband, and he said (re “which would mean either higher interest rates (causing less spending) or monetizing the debt (inflation)” that the feds are already doing both.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  3g4me
1 year ago

Interest rates are higher, but those rates haven’t hit the vast, vast majority of the federal debt. Not all the debt comes due each year. It’ll take around five years for the vast majority of the federal debt to rollover and need to be refinanced. Only a small portion of the federal debt is currently being hit by the new, higher interest rates. But every month, that percentage grows. As it does, the govt will either need to cut spending, increase taxes or increase the deficit. As to the Fed buying gov debt, that stopped last year. The Fed has… Read more »

Snooze
Snooze
Reply to  3g4me
1 year ago

I’m always surprised by how many of the men on this board have husbands.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Re: Russia being ready for sanctions, they obviously weren’t too ready, or they wouldn’t have lost that $300 billion that got seized by globohomo

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

If Russia wasn’t ready, it would have been on its knees by now.

They knew that sanctions were coming. They probably didn’t anticipate the seizing of the treasuries, but they were as prepared as they could be for sanctions.

Geo. Orwell
Geo. Orwell
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

The West didn’t seize $300 billion. That was the story early last year, but since then it has come to light that the West, in a search for Russian assets, could only find just under $40 billion. So the GAE can’t even be a competent thief.

The original Bloomberg article from same day is paywalled but is referenced here:
https://tass.com/economy/1574329
Also
https://theduran.locals.com/post/3588703/bakhmut-final-stage-eu-frozen-russian-assets-disappear

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Geo. Orwell
1 year ago

You know what, as I was typing that I was thinking that I shouldn’t be too trusting of figures propagated by globohomo’s regime media

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Geo. Orwell
1 year ago

It’s because the WH and the treasury dept kept the seizure secret from the Fed and the banks. When the WH announced it, the Fed and the banks were caught off guard. This gave the Russians time to grab their money.

But the reason that the WH kept it secret is because it knew that the Fed and the banks would oppose the move.

Neocons are dicks.

Snooze
Snooze
Reply to  Geo. Orwell
1 year ago

I remember hearing a Bloomberg radio bit favorably comparing the Russian economy to ours just before the Ukrainian invasion.

(((They))) Live
(((They))) Live
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

There is some question about that $300 billion, I read an article a while back that the EU wanted to give the money to the Ukraine, but when they tried they couldn’t find the cash

JerseyJeffersonian
JerseyJeffersonian
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

I suspect that much if whatever was seized (including shit like superyachts) was monies of the oligarchs, removed by these criminals and traitors from their own nation, so why the hell would Russia be sad about that? Obviously, they can get some PR mileage from grumping about these seizures, but their is that maskirovka again.

Even the pipeline bombings were painful to European nations in part, and if they are ever restored to service, you can bet there will be punitive consequences for the comprador Europeans.

Steve
Steve
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

Not so fast. Apparently, that 300bn has vanished off the face of the Earth. The word is that the Russkies got it back after all.

Evil Sandmich
Evil Sandmich
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

If the world is increasingly comfortable holding yuan

I want to quibble with this too. People will only trust it as much as the Chinese themselves do, which isn’t much. It might be more trusted than the dollar at some point, but that’s not saying much either.

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  Evil Sandmich
1 year ago

There are many good reasons that wealthy Chinese have been parking some of their assets in US and Canadian real estate for at least a couple decades.

Paintersforms
Paintersforms
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

“Finally, China doesn’t want to be the GRC.”

Honest question, did the US not want it, either, or was it forced on us by conditions after the world wars?

It’s easy to look at GAE and our foreign elite and think raw ambition got us here, but I’m not sure the cart didn’t get before the horse, nor am I sure China could avoid the same fate if they stay on the same course.

You accumulate enough wealth, you eventually become a banker, even if you don’t want to, right?

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Paintersforms
1 year ago

To be the GRC, you have to run trade deficits. Otherwise, how will foreign businesses and central banks get the dollars that they need to buy, in this case, energy and food, which are sold in dollars. (The world also needs dollars to service its dollar-denominated debts, though most of that comes from the Eurodollar system.) So, the US has to run trade deficits. But which countries would it run trade deficits? Well, countries that use a lot of energy and need to import food. That would be manufacturing countries (energy) that also have a large population, so Germany and… Read more »

Paintersforms
Paintersforms
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

I’m wondering what the Chicoms’ bargain with the Chinese is. Not knowledgeable about their politics. If it’s increasing prosperity for power, isn’t that the same trap the US fell into? Americans have been bought off. I guess the Chinese have a much larger internal market to develop, but I’m doubtful that they’re so virtuous to remain a nation of humble farmers and laborers, when it’s literally easier to get educated, get a desk job, and start investing. That right there would eventually demand trade deficits, right? And of course, I wonder if their ambitious could resist temptation if opportunity presents… Read more »

Paintersforms
Paintersforms
Reply to  Paintersforms
1 year ago

China’s turn started when Deng declared it’s glorious to get rich, or something like that.

WacoWokeMe
WacoWokeMe
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

How did Petrodollars push for trade deficits?

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  WacoWokeMe
1 year ago

Read my other responses.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Paintersforms
1 year ago

The US very much wanted it. You can read up on the Bretton Woods conference

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
1 year ago

Washington really wanted it.

The industrial heartland, not so much.

The queer Keynes tried to create a better system, but Washington crushed that idea because it knew that there was power in being the GFC.

Eloi
Eloi
Reply to  Paintersforms
1 year ago

Well, the Bretton Woods conference would seem to indicate that GRC was completely intentional. The Marshall Plan was entirely about making the US the reserve, for it placed cash in the hands of countries, creating US debt, in order for those countries to do buisness in US dollars.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Eloi
1 year ago

True. But it was the Eurodollar system that emerged that really cemented the dollar as the GFC – along with the petrodollar deal. And the Eurodollar system grew organically. It wasn’t mandated by the US.

That’s why it’ll harder to unseat the dollar than people think. It’s not just about the US government. It’s about the Eurodollar system used by banks and companies around the world.

Eloi
Eloi
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

The questions was about the GRC. I do, however, completely agree with you about the lack of a sudden swap. Again, this reason is why I do not agree with those that expect an End-of-the-world event. I believe this is the end of the world as we know it – a gradual slide into decreasing quality of life. This is why I am also completely pessimistic about an event that awakens the masses. We will just get used to crappier and crappier lives.

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Eloi-

I think you are correct about the slow decline. The controllers of the West are transitioning their societies to the Algerian model.

The biggest tell is how they’ve normalized people dropping like flies from coincidences, almost like that was the plan all along.

Jack Dodson
Jack Dodson
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Thanks, that is a very helpful comment. From what I gather, the takeaway so far is not that the dollar will be replaced in the immediate future, but that it no longer can necessarily deliver a fatal blow. Exhibit A for the former is Russia survived and thrived to the apparent surprise of D.C. As you wrote in a responsive comment, Russia seems to have better prepared to deal with the economic sanctions than Washington anticipated. Perceptions can be reality. The dollar still is king, but its power is diminished and it is no longer as vigorous even if the… Read more »

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Jack Dodson
1 year ago

Yeah, you don’t need to completely unseat the dollar. You just need to be able to do enough trade – especially for energy – in other currencies to survive the sanctions. My analogy is a highway system. Let’s say that there’s this big, well-designed highway system that lets you travel the country. It’s great, super convenient. But over time, the cops that patrol the highway start to arrest people for no good reason and sometimes impound your car. Well, despite the ease and convenience of the highway system, you’re going to start looking for alternatives, but there are none. So,… Read more »

Steve
Steve
Reply to  Jack Dodson
1 year ago

Jack, the question is even broader and probably scarier: how will the neoncons react when the dollar starts to fade, and consequently American global power? I see no evidence that they will be content with even being a big player in the major league. These nutters want total power. It’s a zero sum game for them.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  Steve
1 year ago

They’ll go to war.

They know that the dollar is the key to US power. Let’s just say that neocons understand banking and trade. Allowing trade and banking in other currencies is the end of the US as world’s single great power.

We’ll still be extremely powerful, but we won’t have the ability to tell China and Russia what to do and we’ll have a much harder time bullying other countries by economic means.

I can’t see the neocons allowing that without some form of serious fight.

Bilejones
Member
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

Russia and China are working on a new global currency, likely a few years out, Looks to be commodity/Energy/Gold backed. In the meantime the BRICS economies are now larger than the G7 ones (plus the rest of the EU).
Africa’s done with the old colonial powers, both Macron and Sholtz were openly mocked during their recent visits.
As the Arabs say, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on. Expect the yapping and yelping out of Washington to get increasingly shrill.

TomA
TomA
1 year ago

YES, give Z another Pulitzer for coining eternal terminology. “Dong into dollars” will now live in infamy as a double, triple, even quadruple entendre. But on to the topic at hand. All fiat currencies are founded upon confidence in the issuer by the public-at-large. When that confidence evaporates, you get things like bank runs (see Silicon Valley Bank as an example). What the rest of the world sees in the USA right now is a dementia patient in the White House selling trannyism and endless sovereign debt as if it were a valuable commodity. And the coterie of politicians and… Read more »

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  TomA
1 year ago

I’ll play devil’s advocate here. The Eurodollar system has been around since the late 1950s. It will not be unseated easily. How are banks and companies supposed to do business in yuan or rubles. Both countries have capital controls. Both countries have tiny and controlled treasuries markets. The only other currency even in the universe of the dollar is the Euro and who wants to use that. Look, I hate the neocons, but that doesn’t change the fact that as of the moment, there’s no alternative to the dollar. That said, the BRICs are working on building an alternative multi-currency… Read more »

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country
Reply to  thezman
1 year ago

Totally agree. Both sides seem to be getting these developments wrong. The dollar haters seem to think that this spells the immediate end to the dollar as the GFC. The other side acts like the trade deals are a joke because countries will likely take those rubles or yuan and convert them back to dollars. That’s not the point. The point is that they’re breaking down the current system – both mentally and physically. They’re taking the first baby steps to creating alternative methods trade settlement and banking mechanisms. It’ll take time. They’ll be mistakes. Etc. But the process has… Read more »

TomA
TomA
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

If Brandon and the Fed succeed in pushing inflation into the hypersphere, then people everywhere will flee from the dollar just like a bank run. Black markets and barter will grow in the dark as a homegrown alternative, but right now Russia is doing everything right, showing great patience, and their currency is backed by ginormous O&G reserves, ditto for coal & key minerals, a substantial manufacturing base, and a dominant Slavic demographic. If (or when) US inflation exceeds 20%, the ruble is going to look pretty God Damn good as an alternative to the dollar. Where is the light… Read more »

Yak-15
Yak-15
1 year ago

Recent arbitrary asset seizure and other abuses of what is supposed to be a transparent, fair, unbiased trade settlement currency is the greatest mistake the US has ever made. But don’t worry, Putin is a real jerk, so it is worth it.

We truly are run by fanatics who are high on their own supply.

DLS
DLS
Reply to  Yak-15
1 year ago

I would place it third, behind the Civil War, and putting our thumb on the WW1 scale, which made WW2 inevitable.

DLS
DLS
Reply to  DLS
1 year ago

Oh, 4th actually. I forgot about the $trillions we have spent for cheaper cotton a few centuries back.

JerseyJeffersonian
JerseyJeffersonian
Reply to  DLS
1 year ago

Yes, a good point. Not only was that obsolete farm equipment a dead loss at the end of the War of Northern Aggression, but the losses have kept piling up, perhaps exponentially, given the spread of the contagion well beyond its initial effect.

Captain Willard
Captain Willard
1 year ago

Given that the Chinese Yuan has an exchange rate (more or less) pegged to the Dollar by the Chinese central bank, it is a long way from becoming an alternative to the Dollar. The functional reality of this Dollar-Yuan peg is that the Chinese reserve currency is the Dollar until such time as the Yuan floats freely versus the Dollar. Meanwhile, there are capital controls in China too. That said, Zman is completely correct that economics always happens at the margin. The US has given the world plenty of reasons to find an alternative. So foreigners will chip away at… Read more »

Jack Boniface
Jack Boniface
Member
Reply to  Captain Willard
1 year ago

This is correct. When Chinese get rich, they buy a lot of U.S. real estate. But with the U.S. regime unstable, the yuan and ruble still will be preferred for an increasing number of transactions. That will destabilize the dollar system. You see that in the recent rise in the gold price toward $2,000 from $1,800 (meaning a decline in the dollar’s value). For once, Peter Schiff is right, but still probably too alarmist. If the Fed pushes that back to $1,800, it will mean they are aware of the need for stabilization in the currency war, which will continue.

RealityRules
RealityRules
1 year ago

I sometimes wonder if a part of the reason why the US won’t negotiate a Russia/Ukraine settlement is that they can’t even agree on which faction would go to the negotiating table. The US is in the middle of orchestrating a revolution against itself. It wants a new flag, a new history (more like a Year Zero), a new people, a new social organization (public/private racial caste and spoils system replacing a public of the latter but a private mostly meritocratic system), a new justice system. The revolution means waging war on its warrior caste. That seems like a lot… Read more »

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  RealityRules
1 year ago

I’ve begun to think of the GAE as nothing more than a bank with an army and some nukes, the army piece growing increasingly suspect.

The river of foreign money through DC has been a problem for years. There is so much of it that it is impossible to know who has been bought off for how much and how long.

DLS
DLS
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
1 year ago

“There is so much of it that it is impossible to know who has been bought off for how much and how long.” Answer: everyone for very little until they are dead.

Bilejones
Member
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
1 year ago

It’s a good analogy But the US is no longer a bank, the safe deposit boxes are long gone.
It’s an ATM posing as a country..

Kevin
Kevin
1 year ago

Republicans being stuck in the 80s is one of their biggest turn-offs’ to me. Every politician and media personality from that era never shuts up about Reagan this and Reagan that. Democrats are focused on the future, while Republicans are focused on the past. Furthermore, there is no reason to believe things will get better because the people in power are a bunch of dingbats. Seriously, I cringe so hard when I listen to the authority figures in this country open their dumb mouths.

Marko
Marko
Reply to  Kevin
1 year ago

‘Member when the so-called “Reagan Battalion” assassinated Milo Y because he said some pedo stuff on a podcast?

Milo deserved it, but Reagan Battalion? What a stupid name. Not sure they even existed. But they had to invoke Reagan.

When I hear Reagan invoked, I get the same cringe as when I hear Lincoln.

Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
Reply to  Marko
1 year ago

The Reagan Battalion? is that like the conservative version of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade? They both have about equal relevance to people today.

Alex
Alex
Reply to  Kevin
1 year ago

Same here. They’re retarded kids hunting around for snacks when dinner is set at the table for them.

I flip flop between “they’re knowingly the lesser half of the uniparty” to “they’re just stupid”… It depends upon the day I guess.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  Kevin
1 year ago

As Z-man has pointed out repeatedly, the past is gone. We need to define a *new* future and strive towards that. The Left has no such problem as they strive to tear down what’s left of the past come what may. Those who can’t conceive of a new future, cling to the past and strive ineffectually to retrieve/rebuild it.

Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
1 year ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_(film)

There was a 1981 movie called “Rollover” starring Kris Kristofferson and Jane Fonda, in which the Arab oil countries inadvertently crash the global economy, sending the world into a Second Great Depression.

Cg2
Cg2
1 year ago

Starbucks is just coffee. McDonald’s is just a hamburger. When will we figure that out.
But haha they made Zman say dong.

Clayton Barnett
1 year ago

Thoughts from a few years ago…
machciv.com/2022/03/03/the-ria/

Steve (retired/recovering lawyer)
Steve (retired/recovering lawyer)
1 year ago

It has been posited by others who are better informed than I that Fed Chair Powell is actually engaged in a war against the European globalists, on behalf of American banking interests. If so, then I am compelled to root for him. Not that I favor American banks or those who run them, but the alternative is a globohomo totalitarian state, run by the good folks at WEF who are slavering over the prospect of installing their brand of leadership over us. I do not think Powell is either stupid or uninformed, and am therefore inclined to accept this analysis.… Read more »

Cg2
Cg2

Powell seems legitimately concerned about inflation but his only tool is on the demand side. Plus fighting nonstop fiscal stimulus.

Evil Sandmich
Evil Sandmich
Reply to  Cg2
1 year ago

Powell is in over his head, but yes, just about anyone is his position, dealing with what he has to deal with, would be in over their head.

Janet Yellen on the other hand…
I won’t pollute this post with a link, but her recent interaction with Kennedy in the Senate was disturbing. At a time of a multi-generational basket of financial issues the regime has a woman in charge who would be out on the street in her bathrobe muttering to herself were in not for a raft of handlers.

Mike
Mike
Reply to  Evil Sandmich
1 year ago

I saw some of her testimony, she is truly a moron. And to think she was Fed Chair too. How did we get a system that promotes idiots to authority? I can understand a closed system that those with the right connections and credentials move up, but one that selects for idiots I can’t comprehend. God help us as the fools replace the competent throughout the system.

Citizen of a Silly Country
Citizen of a Silly Country

If you think that the WEF runs things, you need to read beyond the usual CivNat sites. Also, if you think that Biden takes orders from any of those capitols, well, than your journey has just begun. A quick glance at his cabinet tells you all that you need to know about who runs the show.

Evil Sandmich
Evil Sandmich
Reply to  Citizen of a Silly Country
1 year ago

WEF is just an organization of elites, not the other way around. It’s the equivalent of saying that McDonald’s runs the world if they met at a McDonald’s in Chicago instead of a hotel in Davos.

Marko
Marko

I largely agree. I do think Powell (and other big financial dogs) are way smarter than the political/media class, and despite working in the Swamp, they are not necessarily swamp creatures nor managerial goons. They do have a lot to lose if they f**k things up. Sure, they can escape to New Zealand if SHTF, but they’d much rather live in Georgetown or Manhattan and be talked about on TV. At worst, in a collapse scenario, they’d be strung up. Down here among the dirt people, we tend to think that the elite are worry-less, but they are not. Personally… Read more »

Homer
Homer
Member

You’re referring to the Tom Luongo “Theory of Everything.” He tried to explain it on the Duran podcast, but he’s a bit scatter-brained when he tries to explain his theory, and he uses a lot of jargon that’s hard to follow. Here’s the video: https://rumble.com/v2efdjg-the-fed-and-the-ecb-w-tom-luongo-live.html This blogger has broken down the theory into a coherent presentation: https://harrisonburge.substack.com/p/jerome-powell-this-fourth-turnings Ignore the opening stuff about the fourth turning and skip down to the “Team America” section. Briefly, the West is in a financial war between globalists like Klaus Schwab and George Soros (The Davos Crowd) and the FED backed NY banks. The Davos… Read more »

Steve
Steve
Reply to  Homer
1 year ago

I don’t know what to make of Luongo’s theory. It is certainly plausible, but as you say, he has trouble explaining it. He’s also very defensive about it and won’t accept any criticism. That’s off-putting, but doesn’t mean he’s wrong. I guess we’ll find out.

Member
1 year ago

Prior to 1973, the USD was backed by gold and the reputation of the the American government. After Nixon closed the gold window, all that was left was the reputation of the American government.

The reputation of the American government.

SamlAdams
SamlAdams
Reply to  thezman
1 year ago

Is interesting the degree to which Russia and China have been adding to gold reserves. At least to the degree you can get accurate numbers.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  thezman
1 year ago

They did and then suffered the worlds first color revolution 😉

Epaminondas
Member
1 year ago

I don’t believe there is a solution for these currency wars except to let them play out on the trajectory the war is currently on. That trajectory in the West is raging inflation. There is no way off this train without a massive cut in spending to allow fed policies to work. Who believes our elites have the willpower to trim spending? The fed is in an inflation trap which cannot be exited without either demolishing Wall Street or unleashing a middle-class-destroying inflation. I think we know which choice our betters will make.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Epaminondas
1 year ago

Epaminondas: To cut spending means to cut entitlement programs, particularly those beloved of White silents/boomers like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as those expected by blaq and mestizo baby mommas and daddies and their spawn, such as SNAP (food stamps). All together that’s 65% of the present budget. That’s what so many who preach about cutting foreign aid miss (of course such a thing should not exist, but that’s beside the point). Or the MIC. We waste most of what we spend, regardless of budget category. People are addicted to both cheap Chinese manufacturing and federal redistributive gibs.… Read more »

DLS
DLS
Reply to  3g4me
1 year ago

Social Security is a relatively easy fix. Raise the retirement age for young people to 70 and remove the income caps. The fact they can’t even do that tells you how impossible reform is. Medicare is the tough nut. Everyone needs healthcare, and it is expensive regardless of how it is paid for.

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
1 year ago

“For starters, the petrodollar is not a real thing. It is simply a term to express the fact that in the 1970’s the large oil producing countries agreed to use the dollar. … Now, why did the Saudis agree to price everything in dollars. The main reason is they got something for it in return. What they got is a guarantee that the United States would protect the kingdom from threats in the region” There’s more to it than that. The US (Kissinger specifically) threatened military action if they didn’t price oil in dollars. Secondly, they couldn’t just do anything… Read more »

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  Arshad Ali
1 year ago

Arshad-

Great comment.

The questions in your final paragraph also hint at the reasons CBDCs should be DOA.

The Nigerian people seem to realize CBDCs are worthless.

Will the US sheeple do the same?

Gespenst
Gespenst
Reply to  Arshad Ali
1 year ago

“These banks then accumulated so many “petrodollars” they didn’t know what to do with them and started lending them to any third world country that would take them.”

The first sentence in a magazine article back in those days: “Imagine you had so much money you had nothing better to do with it than lend it to Peru.”

ProZNoV
ProZNoV
1 year ago

Lost on the normal news watcher in the US is that America gets at least as much of its power not from shiny sexy military toys, but from the ability to punish enemies with economic sanctions. This has been mightily enhanced with the global reserve status of the dollar. China and Russia are tired of this, and the whole world is getting wise to the long con that is exporting American debt via mass inflation. Been interesting to see Russia resist not just the US military power, but the economic sanctions as well. It seems that a country can survive,… Read more »

SamlAdams
SamlAdams
Reply to  ProZNoV
1 year ago

Economic sanctions are a fools errand when dealing with countries that have vast amounts of hard assets that the world depends on. Russia would be the exemplar in that category, Iran trailing, but they’ve withstood 40+ years of sanctions because….oil & gas. What you are seeing now are poorer consumers of these goods (primarily energy) refusing to enter into a suicide pact with the US. We’re just seeing the tip of that iceberg right now. India is the most interesting one to watch. One of my kids is in the LNG shipping business and was at a global conference last… Read more »

Good ol' Rebel
Good ol' Rebel
Reply to  thezman
1 year ago

Its almost like Russia and China are going around the world and ending all the petty squabbles that the GAE fostered for decades, which constant division and strife prevented anyone from being able to counter or even resist the whims of the GAE. Almost like they are making a concerted effort to squlech the GAE’s divide-and-conquer strategy.
If Putin or Xi solve the Korea problem next, katie bar the door.

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  Good ol' Rebel
1 year ago

“It’s almost like Russia and China are going around the world and ending all the petty squabbles that the GAE fostered for decades,”

Thar’s exactly what they are doing and it’s crystal clear to anyone with half a brain. The satanic globo-homo empire has been sowing chaos and mayhem around the globe for decades. Now it’s getting its comeuppance.

Steve
Steve
Reply to  ProZNoV
1 year ago

Sanctions have never really worked. Both Cuba and Iran have both survived them to differing degrees. As for the Chinese in the ME, geopolitics, like nature, hates a vaccuum. The Saudis know that the US has reneged on its part of the petrodollar deal and is now seeking protection and security elsewhere. It’s quite staggering to see not just how quickly the neocons have destroyed 70 years of US diplomacy by bringing China and Russia together, but how in even less time, they have completely destroyed their long term strategy for the ME. Amazing times!

SamlAdams
SamlAdams
1 year ago

Short answer to “are the elites up to this?” No. Washington is the equivalent of the dissipated third generation being handed the family business. Literally. They’ve got all the “right” educational cattle brands and pedigrees, but most seem dumber than stumps. Apologies to stumps. I’m just a nobody with history degree (albeit a good one) who feels like I’ve been watching this come over the horizon for more than a couple decades. Timing was the only open question. Further to that theory is the elite is just smart enough to pick as much as they can off the carcass for… Read more »

Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
Reply to  SamlAdams
1 year ago

The elite are treating America (and by extension, the entire Western world) the same way Paul Cicero and his crew treated the poor indebted restaurant owner who came to Paulie for help in an early scene of “GoodFellas.” “Now the guy’s got Paulie as a partner. Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with a bill, he can go to Paulie. Trouble with the cops, deliveries, Tommy…he can call Paulie. But now the guy’s got to come up with Paulie’s money every week. No matter what. Business bad?! F*** you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire?! F*** you, pay… Read more »

Steve
Steve
Reply to  SamlAdams
1 year ago

Sami, as someone with a good history degree, I’m sure you’ll recognise all the hallmarks of a dying Empire. The latter days of the Western Roman Empire saw an occassional diamond-in-the-rough decent emperor pop up, but the majority where the same feckless grifters and Beta-boy maroons we have to suffer in the West today