Or wild woman. Or witch!
Posted on 03/20/2006 9:41:26 PM PST by STD
UAE, Saudi considering to move reserves out of dollar
WASHINGTON — A number of Middle Eastern central banks said on Tuesday they would seek to switch reserves from the US greenback to euros.
The United Arab Emirates said it was considering moving one-tenth of its dollar reserves to the euro, while the governor of the Saudi Arabian central bank condemned the decision by the United States to force Dubai Ports World to transfer its ownership to a ‘US entity,’ the UK Independent reported.
“Is it protectionism or discrimination? Is it okay for US companies to buy everywhere but it is not okay for other companies to buy the US?” said Hamad Saud Al Sayyari, the governor of the Saudi Arabian monetary authority.
The head of the United Arab Emirates central bank, Sultan Nasser Al Suweidi, said the bank was considering converting 10 per cent of its reserves from dollars to euros.
“They are contravening their own principles,” said Al Suweidi. “Investors are going to take this into consideration (and) will look at investment opportunities through new binoculars.”
The Commercial Bank of Syria has already switched the state’s foreign currency transactions from dollars to euros, Duraid Durgham head of the state-owned bank said. The decision by the bank of Syria follows the announcement by the White House calling on all US financial institutions to end correspondent accounts with Syria due to money-laundering concerns.
Syria’s Finance Minister Mohammad Al Hussein said: “Syria affirms that this decision and its timing are fundamentally political.”-Khaleej Times Online
China or Britian
I'm no economist so I don't begin to understand. But wouldn't putting our currency back on the gold standard and coining our money in gold and silver (like it should be) negate the effect of these countries "pulling their money"? Wish I understood more about how this stuff works.
In World War II we made countries pay in gold. After the war we owned 80% of all the gold in the world and 40% of its production. We quickly realized there is not enough gold in the world to base our economy.
err ok.. lol sorry but that really doesn't help me wrap me wee brain around the concept. I don't want to seem dumb, but hell, I just don't understand it. Guess I never will.
Bump!
The dollar is based on the faith and credit of the US government and the worth of the US. All of our gold would have been but a small part of our wealth. We print dollars based on the entire wealth of the US. The US has a lot wars. If we had to pay for one or two of those wars in gold the gold would be gone. We pay in dollars and those dollars can be exchanged for US goods, technology,and raw materials. All the gold in the world would not buy NY city.
LOL...
We would see whom needs whom.
It's all BS anyway. They'd be nuts to kick us out of their port. It's all politial speak. What would they do with the port space? And what, as if we don't drop who knows how many hundreds of millions there.
It's a "Wah, wah, wah" kicking the dog post-negotiation whining fit, nothing more. Maybe 50 years down the road the US will be inconsequential in world economics. But right now, more than any other nation, we drive it. And besides, it's a free world economy. I'm sure that if they felt their money would be better off in Euros, then it'd have been there already. After all, all we've been treated to is what shrewd financiers these people are. So either that is false, or there's a reason for things.
Or wild woman. Or witch!
Ok I understand a bit more of what you mean when put like that. However it seems a bit of a shaky thing to me to base the value of your money on.
The UAE was also one of the three countries that recognised the extremist taliban, a transit point for the nuclear black market, and a haven for terrorists. let us not forget that 2 of the 9/11 hijackers are from the UAE.
On the surface the Sheikhs seem modern and open. But make no mistake they are islamic extremists. Anyway 20-25% of that country's GDP comes from its airline and airport. The UAE is more dependent on the world than vice versa.
I just posted that to show only 30% of UAE's GDP is from oil, Kuwait about 50% and Saudi Arabia 45%.
Now you are splitting hairs, they still need the Gulf of Oman to be secure to get their oil out, and once again it's courtesy of the USN.
UAE Exports - partners:
Japan 24.8%, South Korea 9.9%, India 5.4%, Thailand 5.2% (2004)
Qatar needs it too
Oil and gas account for more than 60% of GDP, roughly 85% of export earnings, and 70% of government revenues.
But what do we know, we're just Joe Sixpacks. /sarcasm
"With so called allies like this, who needs enemies? "
I think thats what they concluded when the ports deal was blocked.
The whole thing is a farce. The very idea that if you wanted to harm the United States you would spend a chunk of money on buying the right to process invoices for ships docking dues. If people are of a mind to harm the US they will fly to Mexico and get in a car and just drive in with a suitcase bomb in the trunk - they really wouldn't need to go to this fuss. This is politics and has done more to harm the war on terror than most of the knee jerk crowd can begin to realise.
"err ok.. lol sorry but that really doesn't help me wrap me wee brain around the concept. I don't want to seem dumb, but hell, I just don't understand it. Guess I never will."
heh heh. That never stops a chunk people on here posting with an air of assumed authority! I wont name names!
The point is, that the UAE is ALSO dependent on us, NOT just us on them. That is the ESSENCE of an alliance, that the two countries have common interest. So the BS from the UAE whinning about the port deal and threatening to boot us is BS.
Because they harm their own interests. Given the situation in Iran, we could very well have port facilities on the Iranian side of the straight by next year.
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