http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD3KCCrYVk0 Discuss this two point plan to reform the US banking system and erase the national debt:
I dont see why other currencies are even being considered as the next global reserve...the Euro is truly the only clear choice: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article10755.html The US dollar is not Russia’s basic reserve currency anymore. The euro-based share of reserve assets of Russia’s Central Bank increased to the level of 47.5 percent as of January 1, 2009 and exceeded the investments in dollar assets, which made up 41.5 percent, The Vedomosti newspaper wrote. The dollar has thus lost the status of the basic reserve currency for the Russian Central Bank, the annual report, which the bank provided to the State Duma, said. In accordance with the report, about 47.5 percent of the currency assets of the Russian Central Bank were based on the euro, whereas the dollar-based assets made up 41.5 percent as of the beginning of the current year. The situation was totally different at the beginning of the previous year: 47 percent of investments were made in US dollars, while the euro investments were evaluated at 42 percent.
Is a dominant global reserve currency necessary or is it Just a tradition? I see no reason why reserves could not be held in many currencies. One important thing about the dollar is the US government is not as interested in managing trade balances through currency manipulation as many other nations are. So any nation can manipulate their currency by buying dollars without worrying about the US government objecting.
Carcano, That is really meaningless. Russia is an Eastern European country that does most of its trade with its European neighbors. Many countries in the region prefer to hold the Euro as the dominate reserve. niraker, Actually there are four reserve currencies, the dollar, the Euro, the Swiss Franc and the Japanese Yen. The dollar is most popular worldwide, I think mostly due to the ease with which it can be converted and its widespread use and familiarity. In my understanding, a reserve currency must be fully convertable and free-floating. It would seem to make sense to use a world reserve that was made up of a basket of currencies, but I think the logistics of converting software etc. to a new reserve currency would be a major hassel.
I would have to agree if Russia traded primarily with the US a year ago and now suddenly trades primarily with Europe...but thats clearly not the case.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalb...op news_top news index - temp_global business Yu Qiao, an economics professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, says the best way for China to rescue itself from a dollar trap is to gradually transform the renminbi into a regional currency on par with the dollar and the euro. Speaking yesterday at AsianInvestor's fourth annual investment summit in Hong Kong, Yu also called for the creation of a "crisis relief facility" to ease China and America out of the current financial and economic crisis. Yu says the establishment and then break up of the gold standard taught the world that prosperity is dependent upon global economic integration; that globalisation in turn is dependent upon a universal money; and that such a currency based on sovereign fiat is unstable.
I imagine this is why Arthur C. Clarke favoured using the kilowatt hour as the new global currency. Not only is it universal...but its also a real tangible unit of energy. You can't print fake kilowatt hours.
http://www.kilowattcards.com/template/index.cfm Since Kilowatt Cards can be used to pay for anyone's electricity they can also be used to barter for other things - and as a store of value - worth a fixed amount of energy, regardless of electricity prices. Kilowatt Cards have stable value because 10 kilowatt-hours is a physical constant - a fixed amount of work that one can evaluate intuitively: 10 kWh = 10,000 Watt-hours, enough energy to run a 100 Watt light bulb for 100 hours, and roughly enough to drive a Toyota Prius for 25 miles. While some people want gold and silver, everybody wants light, heat or transport. We are showing that paper notes can be redeemed for something useful to everyone. But we do not produce or deliver electricity - we just pay for it with national currencies, supported by investments.
