US dollar continues to lose influence around the world

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group

For centuries, global reserve currencies have proven to have a shelf life of around 80 years.

Us humans, living our relatively short lives, tend to overlook long-term trends.

With the U.S. dollar acting as global reserve currency since the Bretton Woods conference following World War II, most Americans alive today don’t know anything different.

But, this has not always been the case.

Before the U.S. dollar, we had the world’s reserve currency held by Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

Today, Spain and Portugal would be on the bottom of the list to receive such a status! So, there should be no mistaking: Over generations, things change. And, the dollar is no less susceptible to succumbing to the same change.

In fact, many nations have been actively turning their back on the dollar over the past decade. While some have had “freedom and democracy” arrive at their shores as a result, many power nations like Russia and China have been relatively unchallenged and are building replacements to the dollar system.

Why would nations turn away from the U.S. dollar as global reserve currency? Because the status quo benefits the United States the most. For the majority of people on the planet, they are at a disadvantage. After all, why would nations want to pay for the “privilege” of having to settle international trade in dollars when they can use their own currencies, or monetary metals like gold?

Speaking of which, Russia and China announced this week that they are planning to set up a gold trading platform between their two central banks. It’s yet another move away from the current dollar dominated system, which follows many other recent big moves away from the greenback, including Russia’s oil and gas giant Gazprom agreeing to sell oil to China in renminbi rather than dollars.

Even Iran wants to be paid in Euros rather than dollars for its oil.

And, it isn’t just the supposed enemies of the west that are turning on the United States’ financial control. Just this week, Saudi Arabia threatened to dump $750 billion in U.S. treasuries if Congress approves a bill to release 28 previously hidden pages of a report on 9/11 that purportedly links the Saudi government to the attacks.

Talk about financial black mail! (By the way, what’s in those documents and why have they been covered up?!)

Whether that threat from the Saudis is triggered remains to be seen, the trend is clear: Nations around the world are seeking alternatives to the current system. The great exodus from the U.S. dollar has begun.

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