{"id":2564,"date":"2014-08-20T15:37:24","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T19:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silver-investor.com\/blog\/?p=2564"},"modified":"2018-06-10T10:55:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-10T10:55:52","slug":"a-weakening-petrodollar-impacts-your-finances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themorganreport.com\/blog\/a-weakening-petrodollar-impacts-your-finances\/","title":{"rendered":"A Weakening Petrodollar Impacts Your Finances"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past few years, a sea change in international finance has been underway which will impact your pocketbook in a big way. Little noticed at first, it is becoming more obvious (and dangerous) with each passing month.<br \/>\nWestern banking interests avoid the awkward topic when they speak publicly, but privately they speak of it in guarded tones. Most Americans ignore the issue, assuming that because it seems to be taking place \u201cover there,\u201d we don\u2019t need to pay attention. That attitude is about to change&#8230;<br \/>\nI am referring to the unfolding peril posed by the decline of the petrodollar.<br \/>\nLet\u2019s take a brief look at the history leading to the petrodollar\u2019s formation and how it came to play such a pivotal role in today\u2019s world \u2013 for better, and now \u2013 for worse.<br \/>\nThe Bretton Woods system, set up near the end of WWII, obliged participating countries to keep an exchange rate by tying their currencies to the U.S. dollar.  The dollar became the primary reserve currency. Global commercial transactions were conducted in dollars and settled through the U.S. banking system.  Other countries could redeem their dollars for gold at a fixed price of $35\/ounce.<br \/>\nOver time, U.S. government officials began to see that strong foreign demand for their currency meant they could print more dollars (run deficits) than they had gold to back up those dollars. Soon, foreigners caught on too. Losing confidence in the dollar\u2019s value, they began demanding gold in exchange.<br \/>\nThe gold outflow became so pronounced that in 1971, President Nixon closed \u201cthe gold window,\u201d ending dollar\/gold convertibility. Other currencies began to float in value, but the dollar (now a fiat currency since it was no longer backed by gold) remained a reserve currency.<br \/>\nWith the dollar set adrift from its golden moorings, Nixon\u2019s Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hastened to persuade the House of Saud to price Middle Eastern oil sales in dollars going forward.  (In return, the U.S. would provide the Saudi princes with military backing if needed.)  Thereon, any country wishing to purchase oil would have to exchange their currency for dollars beforehand and, for practical purposes, would need to hold large piles of U.S. dollars in reserve. These dollars, which do not circulate inside the U.S. and are not considered part of our domestic monetary supply, came to be known as petrodollars.<br \/>\nThe effect of this was to exchange a de jure gold standard for a de facto oil standard.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s now 2014, and the U.S. has massively expanded it its currency base, much of it held in debt instruments by foreigners. We export some of our inflation, weakening the value (purchasing power) of the petrodollar. That causes foreign interests to doubt the wisdom of holding so much of an untrustworthy asset.<br \/>\nAdd to this the rise of the BRICs (a coalition of Brazil, Russia, India and China), who actively question the wisdom of relying solely on the U.S. dollar, and who now use their own currencies in transactions whenever possible. Finally, throw in a large dose of geopolitical conflict, Middle East brushfire warfare, and continued NSA spying around the globe.<br \/>\nAdd it all up and you\u2019ve got the petrodollar sitting perilously on its perch, in a position likely \u2013 at the very least \u2013 to be knocked down a peg or two.<br \/>\nThe trend towards owning fewer U.S. dollars (and dollar equivalents like T-Bonds and Bills) is well underway around the globe. Dollars no longer form the exclusive basis for international lending. Dollars are being used less to purchase American-produced goods, most notably from China.<br \/>\nHolding fully 75% of its foreign exchange reserves in dollars in 2002, China is now down below 54% &#8212; and falling.<br \/>\n<strong>A Weakening Petrodollar Impacts Your Finances<\/strong><br \/>\nThis changing environment will affect you. And you should consider owning gold and silver because of it\u2026<br \/>\nThough most observers feel that the petrodollar won\u2019t totally collapse in the near future, Jim Rickards, in his new book The Death of Money, believes that such an event is a distinct possibility. Even if the U.S. dollar only weakens enough to be ranked as \u201cfirst among equals\u201d \u2013 this would still be a major change, with huge implications for the rate of inflation, your purchasing power \u2013 and for the price of gold and silver.<br \/>\nAccording to calculations by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the dollar has lost over 80% of its purchasing power since 1973. In other words, what cost you a dollar to buy in 1973 now costs you $5. In just the last 10 years, the U.S. dollar\u2019s purchasing power has lost 30%. During that time, gold has risen 400%. Are you willing to bet this trend won\u2019t continue?<br \/>\nCompliments of the U.S. dollar\u2019s reserve currency status, we have been able to live wildly beyond our means \u2013 taking for granted our position as top dog. Like the diner who gets a poor meal at a once well-respected restaurant and stops going back, our profligate monetary policies are creating more and more dissatisfied customers. The time when America could run up debts in excess of 100% of its GDP \u2013 which is currently the case \u2013 is a chapter that\u2019s rapidly coming to a close.<br \/>\nWhether the dollar dies a slow death over a number of years, or one day just falls off a cliff as foreigners desert it en masse, the effects on largely unsuspecting Americans will be severe and long-lasting.<br \/>\nSam Zell, chairman of Tribune Company and Equity Group Investments, and one of the nation\u2019s most prescient and astute investors, issued this warning:<br \/>\nMy single biggest financial concern is the loss of the dollar as the reserve currency. I can&#8217;t imagine anything more disastrous to our country. I think you could see a 25 percent reduction in the standard of living in this country if the U.S. dollar was no longer the world&#8217;s reserve currency. That&#8217;s how valuable it is.<br \/>\nDavid Smith<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>David Morgan is a precious metals aficionado armed with degrees in finance and economics as well as engineering, he created the Silver-Investor.com website and originated The Morgan Report, a monthly that covers economic news, overall financial health of the global economy, currency problems, and the key reasons for investing in precious metals.<br \/>\nAs publisher of The Morgan Report, he has appeared on CNBC, Fox Business, and BNN in Canada. He has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Futures Magazine, The Gold Report and numerous other publications. If there is only one thing to teach you about this silver bull market it is this&#8230; <strong>90% of the move comes in the last 10% of the time!<\/strong> Where will you be when this happens?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<center><a href=\"http:\/\/www.silver-investor.com\/free\" class=\"sc-button\" style=\"background: default\"><span><strong>Join The Morgan Report Free for 30 Days *<\/strong><\/span><\/a>* 30 Day Trial applies to new user sign ups only!<br \/>Offer does not apply to Premium Memberships.<br \/><\/center> &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past few years, a sea change in international finance has been underway which will impact your pocketbook in a big way. Little noticed at first, it is becoming more obvious (and dangerous) with each passing month. Western banking interests avoid the awkward topic when they speak publicly, but privately they speak of it<span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themorganreport.com\/blog\/a-weakening-petrodollar-impacts-your-finances\/\" title=\"Read More\">More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,89],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Weakening Petrodollar Impacts Your Finances<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Weakening Petrodollar Impacts Your Finances\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themorganreport.com\/blog\/a-weakening-petrodollar-impacts-your-finances\/\" 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