Free Republic

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.� -Thomas Jefferson The Founding Fathers put Congress in control of the the U.S. monetary system. In 1913 Congress relinquished this awesome power and gave it to a private cartel with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act. For almost 100 years, Federal Reserve policy has swindled Americans...

Why the euro is unlikely to eclipse the dollar By Barry Eichengreen and Marc Flandreau Published: April 2 2008 17:54 | Last updated: April 2 2008 17:54 Judging from commentary by international economists, one would think that the dollar was on its deathbed. America’s financial crisis and the dollar’s depreciation are bringing us to a tipping point where the greenback will lose its international currency mantle to the euro. A few more losses on dollar investments, it is said, and central banks will learn to hold their reserves in euros. Other investors will follow. America’s “exorbitant privilege” will be no...

ALARM - Iran decides to replace the dollar by the euro TEHERAN - the Iranian government decided to replace the dollar by the euro in its foreign trade and for its assets abroad, told to Monday the spokesman of the government, Gholamhossein Elham. “The sources from abroad and the incomes oil will be calculated in euros, and will receive we them in euros to put an end to the dependence with regard to the dollar”, declared the spokesman at the time of his point of weekly press. “We will also carry out this change concerning the Iranian assets the...

SUPERPOWERS Americas Foes Circle Wagons by Claude Salhani UPI International Editor Washington DC (UPI) Feb 14, 2006 America's enemies are circling their wagons, readying for what they perceive to be inevitable: a showdown with the United States. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted by the New York Times as having told a large crowd of demonstrators: "I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle. Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves." Fearing a potential attack, Ahmadinejad, now more than ever, will push ahead with his country's desire to acquire nuclear weapons, feeling it would...

Thursday, February 3, 2005 Gates, Buffett, China'run from dollar'Expert sees development as sharp warning to Americans Posted: February 3, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Decisions by the world's two wealthiest men to bet on a further weakening of the U.S. dollar, coupled with China's lack of confidence in American currency should grab the attention of every working person, says Craig Smith, CEO of Swiss America Trading. Warren Buffett (Photo: Honolulu Advertiser) Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is following the example of Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett, who made a pretax gain of $412 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 by...

Opec considers ditching the dollar Algiers- As the US dollar continues its slide against world currencies, should oil, the most valuable global commodity, now be priced in euros? The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is having a think about the relative merits of abandoning the greenback for the European single currency, and some analysts expect it to be discussed at the powerful oil cartel's special meeting in Algiers on Tuesday. "I would be surprised if the question was not examined" in Algiers, a source close to Opec said at the cartel's Vienna headquarters. Opec's current secretary general, the Venezuelan...

CARACAS: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) could discuss trading oil in euros or a basket of currencies other than the US dollar because of concerns over the slide in the greenback?s value, said the cartel?s secretary-general, Alvaro Silva. ?There is talk of trading crude in euros. It?s one of the alternatives ... either that or a basket of currencies. It is possible that the organisation will discuss this and take a decision at a given time,? Silva told the Venezuelan state news agency Venpres in an interview from Vienna. Opec has aimed to keep oil prices within its...

Most British businesses believe the euro will eventually displace the dollar as the main international reserve currency, according to a survey out yesterday. It provides a more optimistic view than that of many countries which have adopted the new European notes and coins. The UPS Europe Business Monitor, which interviewed 1,261 business executives in seven European Union nations, found that 58 per cent of the 250 British respondents believed the euro would take the lead. Most of the UK executives said any change would be a long time coming, with 21 per cent of them saying the changeover was at...

Given the current account deficit in the United States of more than five per cent and a negative net foreign investment position of over twenty per cent of its gross domestic product, it is the relative stability of the US dollar that needs explanation and not the fact that the effective exchange rate of the dollar has declined by twenty per cent since late 2002. It is even more remarkable that U.S. interest rates did not have to rise as might have been expected in order to attract foreign investment as a compensation for the deficit in the current account. Balance of...