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^ This is entirely true. I think that if anything, this move should be a wake-up call to US policy makers.
For quite some time but especially with earnest after 9/11, the government has functioned on a very punitive and intrusive platform; more and more and more regulations, more and more and more warrantless intrusions, and a general assumption of guilt, that everyone is doing something to subvert the law. It's started to move these punitive practices from its citizens to its allies, with international banks being forced to comply with US regulations if they want to do business not just in America, but with Americans, in their own countries. This can put Americans engaged overseas (such as myself) in a tricky position, where suddenly no banks can work with me, even if they want to.
The US has, for some time, packaged its economic partnership and assistance with a long trail of what could best be called "***** work." Getting roped into long-standing deals where US companies are given one-sided, exclusive opportunities to exploit that nation; limitations as to who they are allowed to trade with and what trade they are allowed to do, etc. Also, increasingly, the US has shown its willingness to turn on or abandon former allies as the wind blows; this is a reality brought on by the US' completely-broken political system, where elected officials think in their own best interest in four-year blocks. "What can I get done for myself inbetween elections?"
For some time, the US was seen by many developing and post-colonial nations as the answer to the colonialism and imperialism of European nations like Britain, France, and Spain, but as the US became the proverbial "800-lb gorilla" of the 20th century, it sat where it wanted, so to speak, just as many nations had before it - indeed, many of them the same ones that are now signing with China. Globalization has decentralized international economics and politics, and rather than getting with the times, the US has hunkered down, hoping to use its still-existent but waning global hegemony to gain its will and stay on top. Nations like the UK and France have already lost their global hegemony and so it benefits them to pivot to whomever offers them the best deals.
All this said, it's worth noting that none of these nations are doing this in place of their relationships and agreements with the US; the UK didn't say, "the hell with the US, the IMF, the World Bank - we're working with China now!" Not hardly, they still have massive stakes in these institutions... they are simply diversifying their portfolio
Anti-american cynicism is best delivered by disillusioned Americans because they should know more about the inner workings of their country than others. If Europeans do it, that tends to look bad for various reasons.
However, I'm disappointed that, 4 pages in, someone has yet to directly point out the de-dollarization implications.
Americans are basking in perfect ignorance about US Global banking policy. Fatca is being hidden from view by the US news media as if it were Janet Jackaon's nipple, and a Youtube search of /fatca nbc news/ yields exactly zero hits. However Youtube does have some explanatory coverage of Fatca, such as this:
Americans are basking in perfect ignorance about US Global banking policy. Fatca is being hidden from view by the US news media as if it were Janet Jackaon's nipple, and a Youtube search of /fatca nbc news/ yields exactly zero hits. However Youtube does have some explanatory coverage of Fatca, such as this:
. . . which is an excellent priner on just where the US is going in world banking.
(Let the above video run through to the next, for a similar explanation that better meets journalistic standards.)
Americans happy with the status quo are obviously less likely to diversify their news sources beyond the mainstream media.
Those alienated with the powers that be, however, are a treasure trove of interesting information.
However, I'm disappointed that, 4 pages in, someone has yet to directly point out the de-dollarization implications.
Better than that, I'll save my rep points (all two of them!) for the first to cogently point out the implications for the metals markets and how that ties in with the dollar.
Better than that, I'll save my rep points (all two of them!) for the first to cogently point out the implications for the metals markets and how that ties in with the dollar.
Is it something to do with the SCO accumulating gold and the recent uptick in spot gold?
Anti-american cynicism is best delivered by disillusioned Americans because they should know more about the inner workings of their country than others. If Europeans do it, that tends to look bad for various reasons.
However, I'm disappointed that, 4 pages in, someone has yet to directly point out the de-dollarization implications.
Because most posters on here tend to view the US as getting what it deserves. Ironically quite a few Americans are saying that even though de-dollarization could have some bad consequences for them. However they don't seem to realize that or don't care either way I'm not going to waste my time arguing with them about it.
As far as China goes while this may make them look like the up and coming next hyper power in reality they are still a paper dragon in just about every sense of the word and they are very likely to stay that way for the rest of the century. They literally built a bunch of cities no one is living in or will be living in since China's population is going to be shrinking massively losing a few hundred million people in the next few decades. The reason why they built cities is because the government subsidizes construction and steel industries heavily in China even with them barely breaking even if not flat out losing money most of the time. So what you have is a giant realestate bubble that is either going to burst and be much worse then the great recession or China is going to end up like Japan and have several lost decades. Considering construction is roughly 25% of GDP for China that is rather huge deal.
Then we have the environmental damage to China that will take decades to clean up...that is assuming China actually bothers to clean it up before millions die from it. China is facing everything from running out of water in 15 yeas. To the very air being toxic to breath leading to a 400% increase in the amount of people in China getting Lung Cancer. These problems have been known about for a decade and nothing has been done about it so the idea China is just going to get with the program and work on solving these issues I find very hard to believe. Especially when a documentary that was made by a former news reporter for China state run news that the reporter got permission to do got taken down off the internet in China due to the Communist Party worrying about how the Chinese people will react if they left the video up.
The video I'm referring to
Then there is the 800lb Gorilla in the room which is corruption in China which is embedded at every level in the Chinese Communist Party from President Xi Jinping down to lowly local officials. Hell most of these Chinese officials send there kids overseas to the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, etc to receive education because it's cheaper to do it that way then to pay the bribes to get there kids into the best schools in China. Also as far as complaining about the US with monitoring it's citizens money overseas. China is doing the same exact thing since a lot of officials in China after becoming millionaires want to leave China why the going is good and buy property in other countries United States, Australia, and Canada being top picks most of the time. It's quite telling when most millionaires in a country want to leave said country. The Chinese Communist Party is trying to stop this of course since they want to control all of it's citizens money. Australia recently caved and did sign an agreement with China to help the Chinese Communist Party seize the property and funds of Chinese who moved to Australia or bought property there whom the Communist Party views as having been "corrupt". That of course means pretty much everybody.
I could go on but I'll stop here since I already made my point.
Because most posters on here tend to view the US as getting what it deserves. Ironically quite a few Americans are saying that even though de-dollarization could have some bad consequences for them. However they don't seem to realize that or don't care either way I'm not going to waste my time arguing with them about it.
As far as China goes while this may make them look like the up and coming next hyper power in reality they are still a paper dragon in just about every sense of the word and they are very likely to stay that way for the rest of the century. They literally built a bunch of cities no one is living in or will be living in since China's population is going to be shrinking massively losing a few hundred million people in the next few decades. The reason why they built cities is because the government subsidizes construction and steel industries heavily in China even with them barely breaking even if not flat out losing money most of the time. So what you have is a giant realestate bubble that is either going to burst and be much worse then the great recession or China is going to end up like Japan and have several lost decades. Considering construction is roughly 25% of GDP for China that is rather huge deal.
Then we have the environmental damage to China that will take decades to clean up...that is assuming China actually bothers to clean it up before millions die from it. China is facing everything from running out of water in 15 yeas. To the very air being toxic to breath leading to a 400% increase in the amount of people in China getting Lung Cancer. These problems have been known about for a decade and nothing has been done about it so the idea China is just going to get with the program and work on solving these issues I find very hard to believe. Especially when a documentary that was made by a former news reporter for China state run news that the reporter got permission to do got taken down off the internet in China due to the Communist Party worrying about how the Chinese people will react if they left the video up.
The video I'm referring to
Then there is the 800lb Gorilla in the room which is corruption in China which is embedded at every level in the Chinese Communist Party from President Xi Jinping down to lowly local officials. Hell most of these Chinese officials send there kids overseas to the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, etc to receive education because it's cheaper to do it that way then to pay the bribes to get there kids into the best schools in China. Also as far as complaining about the US with monitoring it's citizens money overseas. China is doing the same exact thing since a lot of officials in China after becoming millionaires want to leave China why the going is good and buy property in other countries United States, Australia, and Canada being top picks most of the time. It's quite telling when most millionaires in a country want to leave said country. The Chinese Communist Party is trying to stop this of course since they want to control all of it's citizens money. Australia recently caved and did sign an agreement with China to help the Chinese Communist Party seize the property and funds of Chinese who moved to Australia or bought property there whom the Communist Party views as having been "corrupt". That of course means pretty much everybody.
I could go on but I'll stop here since I already made my point.
Good points, and all these problems have been there for a long time already.
But paper dragon? I'm not so sure. The fact of the matter is that living standards have improved dramatically for a billion+ Chinese people, and that consumer consumption and income continue to rise by every external and internal survey. Chinese living standards and overall power projection have a long long a way to go before it reaches U.S. and European level. However, it doesn't have to reach that level before it can start making its impact felt throughout the world.
I've been a vocal critic of the communist party in Beijing. However, my disdain for them doesn't blind me from the fact that their administration of the country has overall been competent and capable for the last 4 decades since Deng's reform and opening up. Give credit where credit is due.
I think the Chinese government and Party will face increasing challenges governing China on all fronts in the upcoming decade. However, China as a nation state has already been around for millennia, through bad times and glorious eras. I am eternally optimistic for the Chinese nation/civilization's ability to persevere and recover.
Or maybe, just maybe, the UK joined the AIIB like a worm in an apple, to make it rot and give back all the needed informations to the US to make it fail. You know, it's only geopolitic.
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