Free Republic

Today Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war against the hegemony of the U.S. Dollar. Of course, he couched the declaration in a statement saying Russia would work to counter the ‘excessive domination’ of certain reserver currencies. The comments were published in an article in the runup to the BRICs summit scheduled to begin Sept 3 in China. “We are ready to work together with our partners to promote international financial regulation reforms and to overcome the excessive domination of the limited number of reserve currencies. We will also work towards a more balanced distribution of quotas and voting shares within...

The Russian government will intensify efforts to cut the country’s dependence on US payment systems and the dollar as a settling currency, said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Monday, as quoted by RIA Novosti. ... US President Donald Trump approved the law imposing new restrictions on the Russian banking and energy sectors.... The new law will punish individuals for investing more than $5 million a year or $1 million at a time in Russian energy export pipeline projects or providing such enterprises with services, technology or information support.

... As relations with the West continue to deteriorate — and the potential for crushing sanctions remains tangible — President Vladimir Putin has begun preparing to release Russia from the crushing grip of the international banking system completely, by moving to a nationalist model based and conducting transactions with allies in gold. In short, Russia has plans to abandon central banks and the dollar — if, indeed, shit hits the fan. Russia isn’t alone — the move away from the much-maligned, Western-centric international banking cartels toward a system less dependent on massive banks comprises a new plan for BRICS nations...

LONDON — The rest of the planet bears a warning for President Trump’s plan to lean heavily on private business in conjuring a trillion dollars’ worth of American infrastructure: Handing profit-making companies responsibility for public works can produce trouble. In India, politically connected firms have captured contracts on the strength of relationships with officialdom, yielding defective engineering at bloated prices. When Britain handed control to private companies to upgrade London’s subway system more than a decade ago, the result was substandard, budget-busting work, prompting the government to step back in. Canada has suffered a string of excessive costs on public...

The US Dollar reversed gains against its major counterparts following the release of comments from President Trump. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump made claims that the dollar 'is getting too strong' and that this will eventually hurt the United States - a USD sell-off ensued in the immediate aftermath of the comments.

Link only

The Russian central bank opened its first overseas office in Beijing on March 14, marking a step forward in forging a Beijing-Moscow alliance to bypass the US dollar in the global monetary system, and to phase-in a gold-backed standard of trade. According to the South China Morning Post the new office was part of agreements made between the two neighbours "to seek stronger economic ties" since the West brought in sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis and the oil-price slump hit the Russian economy. According to Dmitry Skobelkin, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, the opening...

Advocates of abolishing the $1 Federal Reserve note are at it again, this time hoping that President Donald Trump and conservative Republicans will finally side with their three-pronged approach to revamping the nation’s currency system. Under S. 759, introduced March 29 by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the government would end production of the $1 Federal Reserve note, revise the composition of the 5-cent coin, and suspend production of 1-cent coins. While the draft legislation calls for an end to paper dollar notes and the cent, it is silent on dollar coin production. Backers of the legislation...

The toxic dollar is bringing hell in a handbasket. Along with the student loan debt bubble and other major financial factors, the looming pensions crisis is bound to be the death of us all. Because it’s based on a future promise to pay, it has long been a benefit dangled to solve strikes and union disputes – because, in the end, it is just more debt, whether private or public. With tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities, the weight of an avalanche remains dangling over our heads. An aging population is cashing in on needed retirement benefits while the younger...

On November 3, the Egyptian Central Bank removed all exchange-rate restrictions and raised its benchmark rate by three percentage points. This was done to obtain that all-important $12-billion bailout loan the IMF had provisionally agreed to provide in August, though by November 3, the IMF’s executive committee still hadn’t ratified it. In the unofficial market, the pound had already collapsed against the dollar. With the peg gone, the official exchange rate instantly plunged from 9 pounds to the dollar to over 15 pounds to the dollar, and four days later it was at 18 pounds. On November 11, the IMF...

Gauging the value of the Turkish lira against the US dollar has required the power of divination so far this year. Anxiety is high as Turks wait to see whether the lira will tumble more and reach the once-unimaginable level of 4 lira per $1. snip- Now, 4 lira to a dollar is entirely possible and is seen as a harbinger of the big financial crisis to come. snip- The data indicates Turkey will be facing an inevitable financial collapse or at least a severe economic crisis this year. Such a crisis will worsen the security situation in Turkey, which...

Financial expert Lior Gantz says there is good news and bad news for the economy with the election of Donald Trump. Gantz explains, “If he changes the equation, it could cause a lot of inflation in the U.S. U.S. banks are so liquid and have so much excess cash because of TARP programs and QE programs that this could prompt them to start lending, and lend to the wrong people. It could prompt the government to start issuing increased food stamps, universal unemployment checks and all kinds of stuff that can create large inflation in the U.S. So, that is...

Vice President-elect Michael Pence is currently the most powerful single political influence on President-elect Trump. Among other things, he is in charge of the transition team. He will also be in charge, after the inauguration, with dealing with Congress. For leftists, hostile to gold, that is a problem. However, for those of us who believe that the only way to solve our long-term economic problems is by a return to honest money, it is a godsend. The editor of the New York Sun realized this quite a while ago. He wrote, back in July, about the wise choice of then-Governor...

In my forthcoming book The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites’ Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis, I make a very simple point: In 1998 we were hours away from collapse and did everything wrong following that. In 2008, we were hours away from collapse and did the same thing. Each crisis is bigger than the one before. The stock market today is not very far from where it was in November 2014. The stock market has had big ups and downs. There was a big crash in August 2015, followed by a big crash in January 2016. Followed...

The dollar’s upward march has sent the euro currency to its lowest level in 14 years, easing the financial pressure on traveling Americans but giving European exporters a boost. The euro, used by 19 countries, was down 0.1 percent at $1.0390 late-afternoon Tuesday, having earlier fallen to $1.0352, its lowest level since early 2003. Over recent days, the euro’s descent to the psychologically important level of one euro per dollar, has accelerated. A major factor has been the prospect of more interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve following a quarter-point increase in its benchmark rate last week. Higher...

The euro slid in Asia on Monday after exit polls showed Italian Prime Minster Matteo Renzi clearly losing a constitutional referendum that could end his career and destabilize the country's shaky banking system. The single currency dropped to $1.0577 in thin trade, after starting around $1.0645 earlier. The dollar was underpinned by expectations of a U.S. rate rise this month, and even held its ground on the safe-haven yen at 113.20. Dealers said Italian bonds were set to come under pressure as top-rated U.S. Treasuries and German bunds gained. Asian investors are often reluctant to trade on European developments, preferring...

(Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rally is likely to continue into the coming year on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump's proposed reflationary economic policies will force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly, according to a Reuters poll. Most foreign exchange strategists also say risks to forecasts for the dollar to gain against every major currency are skewed to the upside. They see nearly one chance in three the euro will reach or fall below parity in the year ahead. "(The dollar) continues to reign supreme on the back of bets of improving growth and the inflation outlook...

Image from 11alive.com On November 21, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia, an armed robber attempted to victimize a Dollar store. Attempted is the operative word. The suspect did not succeed. He was wounded twice for his efforts, then he was arrested. He is lucky to have survived. From 11alive.com: Atlanta Police say the man walked into the store around 9:55 p.m., pulled a gun and demanded the contents of the store’s cash register. As the robber was leaving the store with the cash register itself, an Atlanta Police spokesman said one of the store’s employees pulled a personal handgun and...

A 10-day losing streak for the euro against the U.S. dollar is rekindling an old debate: Will the single currency reach parity with the dollar? In the last two weeks, the euro has fallen 4% against the dollar, hitting $1.06, a level last seen 12 months ago.

The answer is no,” he said, when asked about his campaign trail promise by CBS interviewer Lesley Stahl. “I think I have to take by law one dollar so I’ll take one dollar a year.” He admitted that he didn’t even know what the salary was, but when he was told it was $400,000 salary he declined it. “I’m not taking it,” he said. He added that he would not be taking too many vacations either. “There’s so much work to be done and I want to get it done for the people,” he said. “I want to get it...