Image by hmerinomx via Flickr
By Gregory Zerzan
Recently China, Russia, Brazil and other nations with large U.S. dollar investments have called for eliminating the dollar's pre-eminent position as the world's reserve currency. This sentiment was supported by a United Nations' panel, and some oil-producing countries have also started moving away from the greenback. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is discussing a general retreat from the dollar as the principle currency for international oil commerce.
World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick, a former U.S. Treasury official, has warned that the dollar's place in the global economy cannot be taken for granted. These developments should be of grave concern to U.S. policymakers. Printing the world's currency of choice delivers substantial benefits to America, and losing that status would cause serious harm. Most fundamentally, diminishing the dollar's importance is a threat to American national security.
Currently, the U.S. dollar is the de facto gold standard. Countries around the world value their goods and services, and even their own currencies, in reference to it. In many countries it is still accepted as a form of payment, sometimes to the exclusion of the local currency. In Russia, for instance, homes are often purchased with dollars, both as cash and as mortgage loans. Even many countries find that investors demand they pay their bonds in U.S. dollars instead of the local currency.
Dollar is a national security issue - Washington Times
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