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World Ponders Life After US Hegemony

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Over the past several months, we’ve argued that between the collapse of petrodollar mercantilism and the rise of a China-led, yuan-influenced multinational development bank, the days of dollar hegemony are likely numbered. The implications of the shift away from a global economic order that has prevailed since the end of WWII are far reaching and may include the demise of what has largely been a unilateral political and economic order characterized by the dominance of US foreign policy and Western notions of politics and capitalism. Now, it appears as though de-dollarization and the end of US hegemony may have gone viral. As The NY Times reports, a US “retreat” from the world order it has largely shaped was the unspoken topic de jour at this year’s spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. 

Via NY Times:

The spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have filled Washington with motorcades and traffic jams and loaded the schedules of President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. But they have also highlighted what some in Washington and around the world see as a United States government so bitterly divided that it is on the verge of ceding the global economic stage it built at the end of World War II and has largely directed ever since.

 

“It’s almost handing over legitimacy to the rising powers,” Arvind Subramanian, the chief economic adviser to the government of India, said of the United States in an interview on Friday. “People can’t be too public about these things, but I would argue this is the single most important issue of these spring meetings.”

 

Other officials attending the meetings this week, speaking on the condition of anonymity, agreed that the role of the United States around the world was at the top of their concerns.

There’s no question that The White House has had a difficult time projecting a unified front of late. Between Israel’s attempt to foment discord in Congress amid nuclear talks between US and Iranian officials and Washington’s abject failure to convince its allies to refrain from joining the newly formed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, it certainly appears as though the US government faces a fractious relationship not only between its two dominant political parties, but between itself and its external allies as well, and this is serving to undercut its ability to preserve America’s traditionally dominant position on the world stage. There’s perhaps no better example of this than the failure to make changes to the structure of the IMF, an institution which will now face a Chinese rival in the AIIB that could, given enough time, rise to become one of the world’s foremost multinational institutions:

Washington’s retreat is not so much by intent, Mr. Subramanian said, but a result of dysfunction and a lack of resources to project economic power the way it once did. Because of tight budgets and competing financial demands, the United States is less able to maintain its economic power, and because of political infighting, it has been unable to formally share it either.

 

Experts say that is giving rise to a more chaotic global shift, especially toward China, which even Obama administration officials worry is extending its economic influence in Asia and elsewhere without following the higher standards for environmental protection, worker rights and business transparency that have become the norms among Western institutions…

 

An overhaul of the I.M.F.’s governance structure, negotiated five years ago in large part by President Obama to give China and other emerging powers more authority commensurate with their growing economic strength, has languished in Congress. That, in part, propelled China to create its own multilateral lending institution in direct competition with the behemoths in Washington.

 

And as we’ve argued exhaustively, the AIIB represents far more than a competing infrastructure lender. It represents the ascendancy of Chinese foreign policy and also ushers in a new era wherein the yuan charts a gradual course towards reserve currency status.

 

For much of Washington and the world’s economic leaders, China’s creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank crystallized the choice policy makers face. Earlier this month, Lawrence Summers, who was a top economic adviser for both President Bill Clinton and Mr. Obama, declared that China’s establishment of a new economic institution and Washington’s failure to keep its allies from joining it signaled “the moment the United States lost its role as the underwriter of the global economic system.”

 

For years, China had threatened to establish institutions to rival those dominated by the West, like the I.M.F., World Bank and Asian Development Bank — or even to establish its currency, the renminbi, as a reserve currency to rival the dollar.

But even as some observers describe the situation as a “withdrawal” by the US from the world stage, it may indeed be that Washington has simply lost its legitimacy after years of foreign policy “missteps” that have now culminated in multiple proxy wars across the Middle East and after mishandling China’s rise to superpower status by painting Beijing as a quasi-threat rather than adapting to a changing world order in a way that secured US interests while demonstrating an ability to respond appropriately to a changing geopolitical landscape.

Whatever the case, the effect has been to undercut Washington’s traditionally dominant role in the financial and political affairs of the world and has, for better or worse, opened the door for other powerful actors to try their hand at shaping the course of history unencumbered by the weight of an overbearing Western hegemon. We're seeing this play out both in Europe — where Russia's Vladimir Putin is not only looking to reshape borders but also to serve as a lender of last resort to Greece — and also in Asia — where, even amid decelerating economic output, Beijing has been agressive in projecting both economic and military prowess over the past several months. Meanwhile, the consequences of US foreign policy continue to materialize in the form of failed or nearly-failed states, and so at the end of the day we'll leave it to readers to decide if the new world order is preferable to its predecessor. 

 

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Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:07 | 6006865 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Groovy etc.... Of course since the entire world is extremely screwed up and are very suspicious and paranoid of everybody else, I officially encourage as much as possible, for China to try and take over as world superpower. Meanwhile, I'm going to sit back and watch the circus.....

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:25 | 6006893 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

I'm with you KD.  I want to see China surrounded by yammering hordes of countries begging for handouts and stiffing them on foreign trade.  It would be nice for a change to ee the citizens of China being taxed to death to fund bases all over the world and having their kids sent to useless foreign wars.  Running an empire is a bitch. 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:10 | 6006957 strannick
strannick's picture

The new boss will be just as odious as the old boss, but without all the American hypocritical b.s. about promoting freedom as It pillages the world.

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:37 | 6007034 nuke ISIS now
nuke ISIS now's picture

Right China will just straight up pillage the world, promoting communsim. and locking your worthless ass up to do slave labor, or face execution

 

you fucking douche bag cock sucker

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 18:08 | 6007120 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

"you fucking douche bag cock sucker"

You love being self-referential, don't you?

 

It's all about you, isn't it?

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 18:31 | 6007182 SubjectivObject
SubjectivObject's picture

nuke ISUS now

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 22:26 | 6007648 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

nicely put.

Doesn't America remind you of a heroin addict whose addiction is MOAR and who has reached the stage where he will do any evil thing to get MOAR and doesn't care if he is seen with a spike in his vein?

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 04:58 | 6007976 chilli sauce
chilli sauce's picture

I freelance over th? internet and earn about 80-85$ an hour. I was without a job for 7 months but last month my paycheck with big fat bonus was $15000 just working on my computer from my home for 5-6 hours. Here's what i have been doing... www.globe-report.com

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:08 | 6006866 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

"World Ponders Life After US Hegemony"

It is not "US Hegemony," but Zion hegemony that is fronted by Zion's DC US war dog.
Zion is moving over to EU Europe, as their DC US war dog is now nearly thoroughly tapped out and plundered.

Out with the DC US, in with ZATO.

The banksters need to repay us.

 

"Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away."

- Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:20 | 6006887 suteibu
suteibu's picture

Yes.  Forget the bought politicians.  Just imagine the hundreds of thousands of non-elected, unaccountable bureaucrats in all of the governments (as distinct from the people of nations) who exist to support America's hegemony in their own countries. 

And then imagine the purge that will take place in many of those same countries when American hegemony stops supporting and protecting  those bureaucrats.  That's what I want to live to see.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 22:56 | 6007706 August
August's picture

Man, show trials must be fun, when you're the one running them.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:25 | 6006894 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

Holy Hell, that's a real quote, I looked it up.

"Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away"

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 21:01 | 6007510 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Good morning,

It's a wonderful day in Zion.

The banksters need to repay us.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:47 | 6007931 MonetaryApostate
MonetaryApostate's picture

"The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know." - Harry S. Truman....

 

I don't think we need to worry about the banks anymore....

http://galeinnes.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-rapidly-changing-world.html

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:57 | 6007380 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

A case of life imitating art,  starring:  Aunty Entity as - The leaders of the western world.

                                                     The Master as  - The "self" Chosen

                                                     The Blaster as -  The American Tax Payers / MIC

                                                     Mad Max  as   -   Yet to be determined

The analogy breaks down in terms of the affinity shown to The Blaster by The Master, but otherwise...

https://youtu.be/Hgq4w4dqKsU

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 21:03 | 6007516 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

"Who run Barter Town?"

The banksters need to repay us.

Wed, 04/22/2015 - 23:33 | 6020847 ander35
ander35's picture

Right. I would love those parasites to go down in flames.

They wont though of course. Evil always wins on earth.

I dont think they will go to eu though, the eu is poorer than we are.

I laugh at the idea of the zios tsking over china like they did in america.

China is racially homegrnous and communist. Impossible for them to blend in, corrupt and take control of like they did here.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:08 | 6006868 no more banksters
no more banksters's picture
Greece and EU Should Turn to Russia, China to Avoid Economic Collapse http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20150418/1021077973.html
Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:04 | 6006974 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

If so, it should be CONDITIONAL.

Conditional upon ALL adopting REAL Currencies that are backed by REAL, PRECIOUS ASSETS: PM + Energy

Otherwise you're just fiat-hopping and making yourself vulnerable to Manipulation by the Usual Usurpers.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:33 | 6007025 nuke ISIS now
nuke ISIS now's picture

TURN TO RUSH SHA AND SHY NA?  FOR WHAT? VODKA AND CHICKEN LO MEIN?

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:40 | 6007043 bilejones
bilejones's picture

Lite on yids

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:16 | 6006869 Captain Debtcrash
Captain Debtcrash's picture

The US may be a train wreck in the next monetary shift, but I don’t take it as a given.

This is a piece explaining why we should not take the US getting taken to the wood shed for granted.

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:26 | 6006895 rejected
rejected's picture

Read the article,,, the entire premise is wrong. Like the following:

 

"I know there are the rumors that the 8133 tons of US gold reserves are gone and though that may be possible I think it is much more likely that the gold is still in the vaults, though it may be leased out"

BS and most know it but leaves himself an out. So therefore it's all academic. 

or

 

"There are certainly other advantages such as a powerful military, and strong corporate and governmental institutions"

We're supporting a large military by printing. That can't last. And besides, The MIC is more interested in profits.... and so far that large military has only won the wrath of the world.

Strong corporate and government institutions? More like tyrannical government and greedy internationalist corporations that don't give a hoot about the usa or any other nation.

 

 

 

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:42 | 6006927 Captain Debtcrash
Captain Debtcrash's picture

You make good points, but the point of the article is not to say that the US will come out smelling like roses, just to question some of the commonly held beliefs in the alternative media sphere as wel l(just like we do with the main stream).  In this case I’m challenging the commonly held belief, at least on Zerohedge, that the US is going to become a third world nation during the upcoming economic debacle.  Looking at the evidence I have before me, and history, I don't think that's going to be the case, could it happen, yeah, I just have my doubts.  It appears as if people see what the US has done to world finance and all the other injustices that have happened and they want some form of punishment, but that kind of bias has no place in proper analysis.

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:13 | 6006994 cherry picker
cherry picker's picture

I don't see it going to 3rd World status either if the economy does fall and the printing presses are still ready and able and hyper inflation hasn't happened yet as it has in some other historical instances.

However a drawn out recession/depression may put on the brakes for CIA, NSA and other government entities whch contribute to the world's problems at large.

If the USA ever did drop to 3rd world status, imagine the rut the current 3rd world countries would be in.

Contrary to popular belief there are still people dying from starvation on this planet.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 21:29 | 6007544 IRC162
IRC162's picture

We Are World Cash Flow 

John American is the world's best customer. Candy, skateboards,  lawn tools,  ski boats,  insurance, trinkets/gimmicks, shitty clothes, gasoline, electronics, porn, on and on.

They will not kill their #1 cow without a replacement cow, no other consumer based economy is there yet. We're still safe

Though God may reveal himself through the Shemitah...but Mr X is not done milking the United States of America, until we are bone dry or surpassed in metric. But regardless  a storm is a comin'

Wed, 04/22/2015 - 23:36 | 6020853 ander35
ander35's picture

They will get theirs they always do. Theyve been driven out of 109 countries over the ladt 2000 years.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:39 | 6007040 bilejones
bilejones's picture

The least smelly shirt in the dirty laundry pile syndrome.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 20:03 | 6007393 r3ct1f13r
r3ct1f13r's picture

Three third world nations maybe?

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:12 | 6006873 rejected
rejected's picture

Ahhhhhh, all the love the world has for the usa... exhilarating yes?

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:17 | 6006883 falak pema
falak pema's picture

Dominator Mundi spiritus Rex !

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:17 | 6006884 css1971
css1971's picture

 

Washington’s retreat is not so much by intent, Mr. Subramanian said, but a result of dysfunction and a lack of resources to project economic power the way it once did. Because of tight budgets and competing financial demands, the United States is less able to maintain its economic power

I'm sorry... Are you taking the piss? Lack of resources? More like gratuitous waste of resources.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:18 | 6006886 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Obama's fault.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:49 | 6006948 Jack's Raging B...
Jack's Raging Bile Duct's picture

Yeah, because everything was going swimmingly when the Right Hand was grasped around the reigns of power. Truely, the Left Hand is to blame. Nevermind that both serve to distract fro the root. Idiot.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:06 | 6006980 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

You must be a lot of fun at parties.  It was a joke and a play on words ("Bush's fault").  I would have thought that was obvious.  You're not looking too sharp yourself right now.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:50 | 6007077 Pure Evil
Pure Evil's picture

If Hitlery gets elected will she be blaming Obama or fall back on the old canard that it's still "Bush's fault".

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:05 | 6006976 Fukushima Fricassee
Fukushima Fricassee's picture

For the love of Reggie

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:30 | 6007017 nuke ISIS now
nuke ISIS now's picture

OBAMMER = FUCK BAG COCKSUCKER,JUST ASK MISS SHELL

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:20 | 6006888 cherry picker
cherry picker's picture

Who needs a world power?

Not me.

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:23 | 6006892 Renfield
Renfield's picture

<<But even as the some observers describe the situation as a “withdrawal” by the US from the world stage, it may indeed be that Washington has simply lost its legitimacy after years of foreign policy “missteps” that have now culminated in multiple proxy wars across the Middle East and after mishandling China’s rise to superpower status by painting Beijing as a quasi-threat rather than adapting to a changing world order in a way that secured US interests while demonstrating an ability to respond appropriately to a changing geopolitical landscape.>>

Article is a good start at analysing where we are and looking forward.

I welcome these articles (and conversations) about what happens "The Day After"... after the petrodollar's fall is acknowledged (market fall / hyperinflation / conflict event / some other way), and an asset-backed currency is unveiled. (I think this is inevitable, both by various signs such as certain governments buying up real assets around the world, and by logic -- replacing a printed fiat with another printed fiat makes no sense, since if you're gonna stick with printing, the US system is already in place for that.)

The Day After, what happens? My suggestions:

1) ROW (Rest Of World, aside from North America) begins trading with new asset-backed currency, with various players' wealth determined by the assets backing their currencies.

2) North America presents its assets in order to carry on global trade. Such assets are:

a) 'deep storage' gold -- soon exposed as nonsense;

b) various agricultural and land assets; and

c) large labour force which may be hired for cheap, to farm/harvest such assets.

3) North American governments nationalise ALL such assets, in order to support asset-backed currency. Land nationalised, some percentage of resource/farm produce nationalised (quotas imposed upon various resource communities), and taxes to take the form of asset percentages (e.g., certain percentage of farm produce) rather than gov debt fiat. 'Hoarding' gold criminalised unless demonstrably part of government trade (or heavily taxed, same thing). Second-hand market regulated in some forms, criminalised in others.

4) Labour market heavily regulated, with price of such labour set extremely low.

5) Various governmental identity cards introduced, in order to assist in tracking all commerce, per Chinese model:

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150416000091&c...

6) Nationalisation of banks.

7) Population and information controls imposed.

8) Police backed up by military, as military employees return home from various US bases.

9) New North American currencies introduced, which are then devalued several times over the following two years.

Well, that's my cheerful & sunny thought for the day...

PS: ETA, my only proposal as an alternative to this scenario, is secession and sovereignty of various state or city groups. The deterrent to this for most 'folks' will be the huge and obvious risk this step would entail. Wild card: other national interests covertly assisting the fledgling 'sovereigntists' (e.g., French wild card in US revolution).

Wed, 04/22/2015 - 23:41 | 6020865 ander35
ander35's picture

who the fuck is at fault? Who would we kill to punish for this mess? God this place is a mess.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:28 | 6006897 Pinche Caballero
Pinche Caballero's picture

"You can't own a (insert nationality here), but you can always rent one."

At least, until someone else is willing for whatever reason to offer more... at which point all bets are off!

In the case of U.S. hegemony around the world, it's just a matter of scale. With the U.S. no longer able to remain the one offering more, other nation states are simply turning elsewhere in hopes of getting the better deal.

I suppose no one else could see this...?

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:30 | 6007324 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

I think blackmail is just as important an inducement as rent. Why else do you think the cesspit earlier lives Obama and McCain (to name but two) have been kept from the general public? Stray off the reservation and suddenly all this stuff starts appearing in the"news" and entertainment media.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:33 | 6006906 Pitiful
Pitiful's picture

A brief thought (or clause if you will) about debt. 

Debt can not truly exist. The very idea of debt in itself is silly. Let me explain in a few, short words:

"Debt" or credit... whichever you would prefer to call it, is the premise that you will be paid back in the future for something you have lent out. First of all, the future itself is completely uncertain (moot point but still). Secondly, suppose someone were to borrow something and after it was used they said "I'm not paying this back". Guess what, you have absolutely no remedy to recover your money, hookers, pancake mix or whatever else you lended. Once you have lent something out, you may as well assume it's not ever coming back because even if you were to break the persons legs, send them to jail, cut off their hand or any other concievable attempt to recover what's gone, It's still gone.

Lending is a fools errand and debt, leverage and securities are not wealth.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:53 | 6007083 pupdog1
pupdog1's picture

Neither a borrower or lender of hookers and pancake mix be.

         --W. Shakespeare

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:55 | 6007090 ucde
ucde's picture

I agree with you. 

I think that our "standard business" paradigm makes a lot of assumptions even before it gets to big things like fiat currency, fractional reserve lending, etc. Assumptions like ownership, for example. (Please don't jump into strawman mockeries, I'm not talking about throwing all concept of ownership away). How can a mortgage holding company own 5,000 houses? How is it possible that they "own" them? Because they possess a sheet of paper? OK. 

Concepts like this are going to be up for grabs. Not entirely, but they will be open to slight ammendment. For example, it may be impossible in the future to own a house and not live in it at least some of the time. Some form of collective or community would enforce the efficient use of land and homes, or police against the abuse of these things. 

And credit is definitely a largely imaginary device which is totally conditioned by cultural norms which during a shift, can go up in smoke.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:37 | 6006907 Mister Delicious
Mister Delicious's picture

What is Israel pondering? How to outdo Al Qaeda? [check: ISIS]

How to outdo 9/11? [well set up for the next false flag]

Homeland Security Made in Israel: Less visible is Israel’s hand in shaping and profiting from the domestic agenda against terrorism, which is where Sheriff Amerson comes in.

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2013/08/homeland-security-made-in-israel/

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:23 | 6007312 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

Like so many other dual-citizen public 'servants' Michael Chertoff set up the requirements for Homeland Security and then returned to the private sector where he became a billionaire selling the stuff he had ordered.  If business ever turns down expect him to engage in another stint of public 'service'.

Wed, 04/22/2015 - 23:42 | 6020869 ander35
ander35's picture

I pray iran gets nukes.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:39 | 6006914 JD59
JD59's picture

This is what happens when you elect the most imcompentent liberal progressive SOBs on the face of earth, and then let them become "dicktators" ignoring the rule of constitutional law.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:37 | 6006915 Weaponized Innocense
Weaponized Innocense's picture

Obama seems to want Muslim terrorist as the world power headed by Iran! But u know the democrats and how they can't kiss terrorist asses enough to kill off the real terrorist of america ~ voters, consumers and capitalists.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:38 | 6006919 Mister Delicious
Mister Delicious's picture

Son, that is weapons-grade stupidity.

Shouldn't you be spraypainting "price tag" on the side of a Greek Orthodox seminary?

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:34 | 6007029 bilejones
bilejones's picture

Congratulations!

You have won the "dumbest fuckwit on the intertubes" award.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:42 | 6006930 Fun Facts
Fun Facts's picture

The US hasn't shaped anything. The fifth column global ZWO banking and media syndicate run the dumb USA mule for their own benefit.

When they use America up, as they have basically already done, they will pull the plug on the dollar and move on like any parasite does.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:19 | 6007304 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

Seems to me they're starting to, if not pack their bags, at least check out some good travel equipment.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:42 | 6006931 dirty belly
dirty belly's picture
'World Ponders Life After US Hegemony'

 

Escape From City 17 - Part One: https://youtu.be/q1UPMEmCqZo

City 17 here:

http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/City_17

"Welcome. Welcome to City 17. You have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. I thought so much of City 17 that I elected to establish my administration here, in the Citadel so thoughtfully provided by our benefactors. I've been proud to call City 17 my home. And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown - welcome to City 17. It's safer here. "
?Wallace Breen[src]
Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:46 | 6006940 oudinot
oudinot's picture

I was suprised, mysef, seeing  a NYT article that talked about a less powerful US.

When I travel (UK,Ireland, Italy, Middle East, Vietnam) most people I talk to, meet,  have already no respect of the US and a consider it a,   'dying Empire".

The biggest problem I think we have is when a Bear is cornered, like the US, it ibecomes  desperate-it may strike out in a WW3?.

Canada, which 10 years ago garnered immense  international respect, does not today , Canada's reputation  has been severely degraded by the Zion Harper.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:48 | 6006943 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

"Canada's reputation  has been severely degraded by the Zion Harper."

Ditto the Zionist stooges running Australia and New Zealand.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:16 | 6007294 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

The Price Of Power.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 23:20 | 6007740 August
August's picture

Double ditto for the nitwits running New Zealand's government, who fall over themselves to keep the NSA happy, doing things (like tapping local Chinese diplomatic communications) that would be difficult for the Big Boss to do directly himself.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:32 | 6007022 bilejones
bilejones's picture

The rest of the world: minus, of course the occupied terrories of Europe and Japan, finall got tired of the murderous filth.

I think someone sent them a copy of Boetie's opus

http://www.constitution.org/la_boetie/serv_vol.htm

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 16:54 | 6006956 JD59
JD59's picture

All you have to do is watch this clock, and you already know we are history.  The f***ing progressive communist who want this country to be over run by illegal undocumented voting democrats have morally, and financially bankrupted this country.

WWW.USDEBTCLOCK.ORG

Progressives destroy all life, including the unborn. Satan's hand is at work.

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:10 | 6007277 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

Maybe this Satan/Lucifer things isn't as daft as we'd all have once thought.

http://irishsavant.blogspot.ie/2015/04/eschatology.html

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:05 | 6006978 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Sounds like the Russian girls all left college last year and the Chinese are about to go this year.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:31 | 6007016 Batman11
Batman11's picture

Wall Street took over the US.

The bankers sold the US their only product, debt (loans/mortgages).

The bankers product allows you to bring money from the future to spend today.

The loan is spent immediately, the repayments come along in the future. 

Bankers offer one future , debt servitude, that future has arrived for the US.

Successful economies make things, e.g. China and Germany.

 

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:38 | 6007035 ucde
ucde's picture

damn. that is succint as f***. nice

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:03 | 6007264 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

Excellent.

And a footnote: Any country or system that threatens it gets targetted for some humanitarian bombing.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:45 | 6007059 pupdog1
pupdog1's picture

Rep. Ed Royce, Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, presides over the most dysfunctional foreign policy in US history.

So, his big idea is to call a congressional hearing on how Russia Today is being mean to his neo-tribe.

Hollywood couldn't make this shit up.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:53 | 6007084 Clesthenes
Clesthenes's picture

“It appears as tho de-dollarization and the end of US hegemony may have gone viral.”

It’s all theater.  If it has “gone viral”, a baseless fairy tale has “gone viral.”

For, they can’t get away from the US dollar without destroying their own banking systems.

Central banks of all these countries possess large amounts of US Treasuries.  This means 1) that currencies and bank reserves of each of those central banks were issued against those US Treasuries, dollar for dollar; 2) that, if such countries were to sell their dollars (remember, US Treasuries are denominated in dollars) in any but trifling amounts, we could expect a global-wide stampede out of such securities.

And that stampede would drive the value of the dollar to zero.  This would cause equal losses for all currencies and banking systems that are now built on top of the dollar.

What else could we expect?  You see, when the Chinese central bank purchases dollars, the offsetting entry is an issuance of new Chinese currency or bank reserves equal to the face amount of the US Treasuries purchased.

Who are those countries?

As of Jan 2015: China held $1239.1 billion of US Treasuries; Japan: $1238.6 billion; Eurpean Union, $1.1 to $1.3 trillion; Belgium: $354.6 billion; Caribbean Banking Centers: $338.5 billion; Oil Exporters: $290.8 billion; Brazil: $256.7 billion; UK: $207 billion; Switzer: $205.5 billion; Hong Kong: $172 billion; India: $91.2 billion: Russia: $82 billion; among many others.

Of course, these amounts do not reflect private foreign holders as nominee holders for such central banks.

Let them create their “alternate” global reserve currency.  It will still be built on top of a house of cards: the US dollar.

Nothing will change… people will get that fuzzy feeling that “something” is being done to correct an evil… Judeo-Bolshevik bankers and munitions makers will buy another day to plunder the earth to a Stone-Age condition… until the dollar is inflated to zero.  Then we will discover if there is any gold left at Fort Knox.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 18:38 | 6007197 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

Perhaps they can create an alternative currency by joint agreement and which will require the cancellation or parking of US treasuries of an equivalent amount. From that point on no further US treasuries would be bought or accepted.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 16:31 | 6009147 Clesthenes
Clesthenes's picture

Of course they will; but, what will they use for collateral?  For, every currency on the globe (except Zimbabwe’s) is issued IN EXCHANGE for some kind of currency.

What will they use… walnuts… feathers… more US Treasuries?

It really doesn’t matter.  People will get that fuzzy feeling that “something” is being done to correct an evil… and continue to vegetate in from of their indoctrination device… Judeo-Bolshevik bankers and munitions makers will buy another day to plunder the earth to a Stone-Age condition… until the dollar is inflated to zero.

Again, it’s all theater… another fairy tale.  People will get that…

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 17:57 | 6007098 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

 

Life after US hegemony?

Big Brother hegemony.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 18:01 | 6007106 anonymice
anonymice's picture

 

Today people say it is inimaginable, tomorrow they'll say it was unavoidable.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 18:23 | 6007144 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

The USA can no longer regain its preeminent position so what it will attempt to do is drag the rest of the world down. This is the real threat to an already eonomiclly and politically unstable world.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 19:50 | 6007366 Herdee
Herdee's picture

Maybe all the sheeple are waking up to the cost of trying to be the world's policeman ana at the same time having the rest of the world hate you wherever you go.People are listening to Jim Willie;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Pw8Q8JL8g

Ordinary working people know that neo-cons like Victoria Nuland are the enemy of The Constitution.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 20:32 | 6007446 Jungle Jim
Jungle Jim's picture

Wasn't some sort of new Chinese gold exchange supposed to open right around, well, now? And wasn't that supposed to be some kind of big game changing event? But as far as I can see, the road goes ever on and the song remains the same.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:27 | 6007918 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Patience, Jungle Jim. Patience ;)

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:27 | 6007919 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Patience, Jungle Jim. Patience ;)

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:29 | 6007920 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Patience, Jungle Jim. Patience ;)

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:29 | 6007921 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Patience, Jungle Jim. Patience ;)

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 21:00 | 6007508 Omega_Man
Omega_Man's picture

when BRICS are setting the interest rates for the world and not the FED I have a feeling they are going to be higher, much higher.. if Russia is any indication 13%

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:26 | 6007916 Tirion
Tirion's picture

The whole monetary system is going to be re-set, so any frame of reference you might have now is probably irrelevant.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:26 | 6007917 Tirion
Tirion's picture

The whole monetary system is going to be re-set, so any frame of reference you might have now is probably irrelevant.

Sat, 04/18/2015 - 22:44 | 6007681 Gab Timov
Gab Timov's picture

Good luck China. Once the plutocrats in the US decide to stop flooding the US with products made in China, there goes all yer money. Isolationism, here we come. Get back to the business of making America fundamentally strong. Stop being world police and the world's consumer marketplace.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:24 | 6007913 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Actually, Gab, China's stated policy objective is to increase the size of the services sector of its economy to the equivalent of USD1TN by 2020, and to have 60% of the Chinese population living in urban areas by the same date. All those newly-built but empty ghost cities in China we keep hearing about have been built with this in mind. Key to achieving this is a devaluation of the US dollar, on which the US has been stalling (IMF 2010 Quota and Governance Reforsm, one of the main topics at this weekend's WB/IMF/G20 Spring Meetings). When this has been accomplished (not long now), a new Chinese middle class will flood into those ghost cities, and start importing cheaply-made consumer goods made in, drum roll, the USofA. China needs to move on from the export-driven model, and a weaker dollar is going to help them achieve it. Americans will suffer a significant loss of living standards, at least until US manufacturing can get properly back on its feet. Much of the preparatory work has already been done, but I wonder how much of this re-surgence will take place thanks to Chinese-owned factories in the US?! Oh well, I guess there will be jobs, if not profits, for Americans - oh, and FATCA, of course!

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:24 | 6007914 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Actually, Gab, China's stated policy objective is to increase the size of the services sector of its economy to the equivalent of USD1TN by 2020, and to have 60% of the Chinese population living in urban areas by the same date. All those newly-built but empty ghost cities in China we keep hearing about have been built with this in mind. Key to achieving this is a devaluation of the US dollar, on which the US has been stalling (IMF 2010 Quota and Governance Reforsm, one of the main topics at this weekend's WB/IMF/G20 Spring Meetings). When this has been accomplished (not long now), a new Chinese middle class will flood into those ghost cities, and start importing cheaply-made consumer goods made in, drum roll, the USofA. China needs to move on from the export-driven model, and a weaker dollar is going to help them achieve it. Americans will suffer a significant loss of living standards, at least until US manufacturing can get properly back on its feet. Much of the preparatory work has already been done, but I wonder how much of this re-surgence will take place thanks to Chinese-owned factories in the US?! Oh well, I guess there will be jobs, if not profits, for Americans - oh, and FATCA, of course!

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 00:19 | 6007808 dag
dag's picture

With pygmy leadership in Washington, world leadership is up for grabs.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 00:27 | 6007819 dag
dag's picture

With pygmy leadership in Washington, world leadership is up for grabs.

"America" is no longer a cachet.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 01:31 | 6007869 PADRAEG
PADRAEG's picture

Obama's intention is to bring down the US, & he has done quite well so far. The next president & administration will show how weak is Obama's influence long term. Jimmy Carter also decimated USA, but Reagan recovered the winning hand, felling CCCP. 

I do hope this will be done without nukes, but that was the fear under Reagan also, you will recall? 

Fear of ever launching nukes will ensure they will be launched. Got it? Both Reagan & Soviets proceeded without launching. Putin is more likely to launch, but most of his missiles will land on Russia.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 01:31 | 6007870 PADRAEG
PADRAEG's picture

Obama's intention is to bring down the US, & he has done quite well so far. The next president & administration will show how weak is Obama's influence long term. Jimmy Carter also decimated USA, but Reagan recovered the winning hand, felling CCCP. 

I do hope this will be done without nukes, but that was the fear under Reagan also, you will recall? 

Fear of ever launching nukes will ensure they will be launched. Got it? Both Reagan & Soviets proceeded without launching. Putin is more likely to launch, but most of his missiles will land on Russia.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:10 | 6007900 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Padraeg, let's get one thing crystal clear: The US is the aggressor here, not Putin. The Russians are being extraordinarily restrained in the face of outrageous, criminal provocations from the US, perhaps most notably the attempt to spark a coup in Moscow by assassinating the opposition politician, Boris Nemtsov, near the Kremlin on 27Feb15. Nemtsov had been due to speak at mass demonstrations near The Kremlin on 01Mar15, and the Amercians were hoping to turn these into de-stabilising riots. In the event, the demostrations failed to achieve critical mass. On 15Mar15, Putin (or one of his doppelgangers) re-appeared in public after an un-scheduled ten-day absence from public view, despite having had public engagemets in his diary to, among other things sign international treaties with other heads of government.

But the Russians know that the loss of US hegemony has been ordained by The Powers That Be as part of the transititon to The New World Odor. All the Russians have to do is watch the Americans continue to shoot themselves continually in the foot. I think it became clear to the rest of the world in March that US hegemony had finally been broken, firstly, when the Fed effectively admitted that it could not raise interest rates and, secondly, when the US's NATO and Pacific allies broke ranks by joining the AIIB (probably in an attempt to avoid Russian retaliation for the attempted coup a few days before).

 

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 02:11 | 6007901 Tirion
Tirion's picture

Padraeg, let's get one thing crystal clear: The US is the aggressor here, not Putin. The Russians are being extraordinarily restrained in the face of outrageous, criminal provocations from the US, perhaps most notably the attempt to spark a coup in Moscow by assassinating the opposition politician, Boris Nemtsov, near the Kremlin on 27Feb15. Nemtsov had been due to speak at mass demonstrations near The Kremlin on 01Mar15, and the Amercians were hoping to turn these into de-stabilising riots. In the event, the demostrations failed to achieve critical mass. On 15Mar15, Putin (or one of his doppelgangers) re-appeared in public after an un-scheduled ten-day absence from public view, despite having had public engagemets in his diary to, among other things sign international treaties with other heads of government.

But the Russians know that the loss of US hegemony has been ordained by The Powers That Be as part of the transititon to The New World Odor. All the Russians have to do is watch the Americans continue to shoot themselves continually in the foot. I think it became clear to the rest of the world in March that US hegemony had finally been broken, firstly, when the Fed effectively admitted that it could not raise interest rates and, secondly, when the US's NATO and Pacific allies broke ranks by joining the AIIB (probably in an attempt to avoid Russian retaliation for the attempted coup a few days before).

 

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 01:53 | 6007887 Tirion
Tirion's picture

It's good to know that people are finally catching on. It looks like 01Jan16 is going to be an important date:

1. PRC assumes presidency of G20.

2. IMF SDR basket Review to implement.

3. ASEAN economic community integration to complete.

4. AIIB becomes fully operational.

5. BRICS Development Bank becomes fully operational.

6. EU Bank Recovery & Resolution Directive becomes law across EU (bail-ins)

Bye-bye Miss American Hegemon-eye

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 10:13 | 6008273 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

We'll see. I've been making the call for the SDR to include Yuan and gold for years, but it's the weighting of the components that will really push Merkin hegemonye off the cliff. The Chinese (et al) may settle for getting their foot in the door with a lower weighting which would make it a less dramatic shift in the short-term (but ultimately, yes, the Yanks are fucked).

 

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 09:09 | 6008159 pine_marten
pine_marten's picture

You can't have an effeminate charlatan leading the free world.........

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 10:13 | 6008272 22winmag
22winmag's picture

That's certainly one way to put it.

 

Truthful even.

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 10:10 | 6008266 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Does that "retreat" include spending $300B less on bases around the world? Well at least we'll have lots of former soldiers needing jobs too. Oh, and resources that used to trade in dollars will actually cost something now.

Other than that, the plan sounds great!

Sun, 04/19/2015 - 11:16 | 6008394 Niall Of The Ni...
Niall Of The Nine Hostages's picture

You'll know we've really turned the corner when Uncle Sugar finally gets serious about securing the Mexican border---to keep his own destitute, starving debt-peons from escaping to the free and prosperous Eurasian Union or to Greater Israel.

Face it---when the Saudi sandniggers run out of oil in fifteen years, max, the greenback and euro (or its successor currencies) will become useless as anything but cheap wallpaper. Turns out bank-confetti doesn't burn as well as Russian oil, and it will become impossible to keep giving the banksters their cut and paying a fair price for the oil industry actually needs to function at the same time. 

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