Posted on 05/15/2005 5:14:47 AM PDT by RaceBannon
Putin: Why Not Price Oil in Euros? By Catherine Belton Moscow Times October 10, 2003
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Russia could switch its trade in oil from dollars to euros, a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for the global balance of power -- potentially hurting the U.S. dollar and economy and providing a massive boost to the euro zone. "We do not rule out that it is possible. That would be interesting for our European partners," Putin said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the Urals town of Yekaterinburg, where the two leaders conducted two-day talks. "But this does not depend solely on us. We do not want to hurt prices on the market," he said. "Putin's putting a big card on the table," said Youssef Ibrahim, managing director of the Strategic Energy Investment Group in Dubai and a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, an influential body of leading world thinkers thought to help set the United States' foreign policy agenda. "In the context of what is happening worldwide, this statement is very important," he said.
Putin's words come in the wake of a protracted drive by the EU to attract more countries' trade and currency reserves into euros, in a bid to chip away at U.S. hegemony over the global economy and money supply. A move by Russia, as the world's second largest oil exporter, to trade oil in euros, could provoke a chain reaction among other oil producers currently mulling a switch and would further boost the euro's gradually growing share of global currency reserves. That would be a huge boon to the euro zone economy and potentially catastrophic for the United States. Dollar-based global oil trade now gives the United States carte blanche to print dollars without sparking inflation -- to fund huge expenses on wars, military build-ups, and consumer spending, as well as cut taxes and run up huge trade deficits.
The Euro will collapse long before oil can be priced in Euros... the expense in changing the global market to price it in a different currency will be immense and is no trivial task. Neither will it be a trivial task to save Europe from the coming economic catastrophe wrought by Continental socialism.
The trade balance shows that Euro Zone is stronger in this competition.
No, check your facts.
how much a gallon is USA gas, in mexican peso's
Look at the economic growth rate of the Euro Zone. Overall it's about half or less of the US. Also, take a look at the overall unemployment rate. It's twice the US. Trade balances only show a very small part of the overall picture.
Let us look at the long term trends over the few decades. Look at the situation 50 years ago, how was the European GDP/per capita versus USA? Was it higher or lower?
Can the US trade/budget deficit be maintained for long?
How many Euro's should we charge the Russians and other Eurotrash for a bushell of wheat or corn? If they don't like our price, let them eat oil.
European per capita GDP 50 years ago was pretty much zero as they were just coming off WW II. A better comparison would be results from the last 10 years. The answer to your second question is yes.
The EU would much rather we be the controlling force in the ME rather than some Arab dictator or heaven forbid, the Chinese.
By EU projections, it will take the EU 25 years to catch the US economy on some factors and 40 years on others. If I get a chance I'll post the links.
Interestingly and coincidentally, I have started receiving pop-up ads telling me how easy it is to trade in Euros, and offering to sign me up for a free account.
That last point is so true; without the US consumers buying the millions of containers of cheap imported goods, the manufacturing countries are screwed. They may turn up the heat on us, try to bring the dollar down, do everything to promote the Euro and abandon the dollar, but in the end, if we stop buying the crap due to unemployment or conscious decision, their party stops and they starve. Game, set, match.
Price oil in currency... whether it be EUros or US Dollars.... It seems to me that dirty Saudi (Arab) money was pulled from the US Stock Market to the tune of around 120B during the previous Schroder/Chiraq election cycle and dumped in the German/French markets, coupled with a deal for France/Germany to buy oil with EUros at a time when the Euro traded at 105-US Dollar. Now the dollar trades at 128-Euro - stop to think that as the price of oil went from $32-34 to $50-55 a barrel, the Euro actually discounted oil by 25 percent!!! Euro has not been hammered by oil price increases in the same way as the US. Yet the EU has failed to continue to match US Economic output. Even with oil prices costing Americans more than 25% more than Europe (40 Euros buy the same oil at $52 dollars), the actual price increase for the US was, well, $23 at $55 a barrel, while the EU pays only 40 Euros vs. 33 Euros at the time of the Dirty Arab/German-French-EUro deal. American paid a doulbe price when our EUropean allies screwed us. It is now time for Bush to wack Chiraq and Schroeder by pulling the economic props out from under their socialist economies and forcing their countrymen to elect a more center right government in their place.
10 years is too short. Let us look at the 1970s whe US was "coming off" Vietnam war.
Post your data.
The Trade deficit numbers are meaningless because they only measure half (actually less than half) of the actual equation. The money flow is actually the more significant (unmeasured) part.
The budget deficit can be maintained indefinitely as long as the economy is growing. Once the economy stops growing all bets are off.
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