Rise of the Ruble, Death of the Dollar
When you look at "fiat money" for what it really is - a standard of measurement - you realize that collectively the volume of the entire world's currencies CANNOT exceed the "value" of all the assets on earth, without causing the phenomenon that we call "inflation."
In other words, just like everything else in life - the value of "fiat money" is relative.
And with the dawn of "globalization" and the free flow of goods and capital across borders, each of the world's fiat currencies in effect has 'the power' to 'destroy' the others.
That is, when one fiat currency 'goes up in value' another 'goes down.'
In just 10 years, the Russian ruble has undergone such a remarkable transformation that its popularity now threatens the country's blossoming exporters, analysts say.From worthless during the financial crises of the 1990s, the now freely-floating currency has become so strong that it risks making Russian goods more expensive in international markets.
"It's completely chalk and cheese. It's a totally different situation from 10 years ago. It's a different currency," said analyst Al Breach, head of research at investment bank UBS in Moscow.
The ruble is buoyant because of high oil prices and the Russian government's "extraordinarily strong" budget controls, meaning its value could be underestimated by up to "35 to 40 percent," he added.
A total contrast to the situation 10 years ago that began with 1998's Asian crisis. The collapse of Asian tiger economies caused Russia to default on its debt and drastically devalue the ruble.
Today, Russia has a healthy budget surplus and the third-highest currency reserves in the world -- worth 360 million dollars. Relative to the size of its economy, Russia ranks first for currency reserves.
Last year, the country finally lifted the ruble's international exchange restrictions, and so rendered the ruble a freely convertible currency.
For Chris Weafer, chief strategist for Alfa Bank in Moscow, now that brokers have easy access to rubles, it is becoming "the new petro-currency" -- at the dollar's expense.
It's no coincidence that Lukoil, Russia's biggest oil producer, indicated on April 24 that it was considering changing its internal accounting currency from dollars to euros or rubles.
For Al Breach, "Russian individuals and Russian companies are starting to swap because they understand it's a better currency to be in full-stop.
"We're going to see more individual and international investors saving in rubles from now on," he added.
But the ruble's new-found vigour is not good news for everyone in Russia -- especially exporters, who can expect to see the foreign price of their products climb.
The issue has attracted President Putin's attention, as he pushed his government in early April to pay "close attention" to the ruble's rise, and avoid "undermining the positive dynamic in growth markets."
Anton Stroutchenevski, an analyst at Troika investment bank, underlines the delicate balance necessary.
The authorities and the Russian central bank use the ruble's strength as a brake on inflation, which at 9.0 percent in 2006 was still relatively high.
But the Bank of Russia knows that "aggressive further appreciation would be really dangerous", especially as economic analysts expect Russia's mammoth trade-surplus (nearly 141 billion dollars in 2006) to fall sharply in the coming years.
As Stroutchenevski sums up the situation, "prudence is of the essence."
Underlining the change in the fortunes of the Russian ruble, Breach at UBS said it was now one of the most attractive currencies in the world for investors.
"If you look around the world at the moment for good value currencies for investment, the best deals are the ruble, the Chinese yuan or the Singapore dollar -- they stand out big time as cheap, appreciable currencies that offer a safe place to keep your money," he said.
The obvious implication, of course, is that the dollar is NOT a safe place for savings. But, it's what the majority of Americans have and need in order to survive.
A decline in the value of the dollar will not only wipe out the value of people's savings in America, it will make the price of ordinary consumer goods skyrocket and dramatically reduce our standard of living.
The imminent death of the dollar is going to make the S&L crisis of the '80s look like a walk in the park.
Meanwhile, the rich will have spirited their wealth into other forms of currency, making a killing off of OUR misfortune.
But, none of this has to happen.
It can all be averted if Americans wakeup and realize that the people responsible for this can be stopped.
It's simply a matter of changing the LAW that allows the money masters to rob US blind.
Brings home the simple message:
WE ARE BEING ROBBED "INTERNALLY" BY THOSE WHO "CLAIM" TO BE OUR FRIENDS AND ALLIES -- meanwhile these same people endeavor to pit our young men and women against foreign "enemies"....
Here is a link to a very well written article on what is really going on in the financial world:
"Liquidity boom and looming crisis" by Henry C.K. Liu
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/IE09Dj01.html
Regarding WBAI, that was a special edition for their Spring telethon.
It was with Peggy Dominique, who normally hosts the “Arts Magazine” show in Tuesdays at 2:00 pm. Also present was Marianne-something, who used to be in the WBAI news dept.
The women were giving away copies of The Money Masters for people who made pledges to the station.
Today’s program will probably be available for listening by tomorrow at http://archive.wbai.org/ .
I listened to the last ten minutes of the program at http://www.wbai.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Truth Seeker--As you probably know the only person that will abolish both the foreign owned fed and the private for profit irs is RON PAUL..this is why we all need to pass his name around to millions of people around the country..RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT..
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul380.html