Yes. The PetroEuro was Iraq trying to move away from USD and take advantage of interest rates and the rising Euro. The US invaded and overthrew Hussein, forcing Iraq to switch back to USD.

I think the point of the BRICS currency is to give stability for global trading. Something that currently Trump is threatening with all the dumbass financial and trade moves to MAGA. BRICS isn’t trying to collapse the USD. There’s just less demand for USD when BRICS trade with each other using currency swaps as they do now.

I don’t have a good understanding of how gold is going to back this BRICS currency so I am interested in what the next moves are.

As for Europe and UK, fuck em I reckon austerity nuts are going to cut all sorts of government spending. I don’t see any big moves to save themselves economically.

The reason the US moved away from the gold standard was due to the limits of gold supply back in the 70s. It’s interesting that BRICS is trying to go back to using gold.

For the petrodollar, I think the US is seeing the Triffin Dilemma in effect:

The more popular the reserve currency is relative to other currencies, the higher its exchange rate and the less competitive domestic exporting industries become.

If the US has to provide a certain amount of USD so the rest of the world can trade oil with each other, it has to print more currency leading to domestic inflation.

If alternative currencies become more dominant, it actually could help the US reduce inflation. For the rich US capitalists, it’s going to be worse because their assets won’t be flying upwards in price any more. But for normies, it might provide some relief.

The US government fear the loss of a sanction weapon more than anything USD price related. If a BRICS currency happens, they can’t freeze out their enemies from international trade.

About a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the strait, or roughly 20 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, condensate and fuel.

“You thought my tariffs on everything would be inflationary for the US? Well hold my beer because guess how unconditionally supporting our 51st state in another war in the Middle East is going to affect global oil prices?” - Big Brain Trump

Germany scored 105 out of 100 on the Trolldom House index. One day America will get back there with a lot of soul searching and work…

Lack of workers forces companies to keep increasing salaries

“Salaries up 9% = Negative. Poor companies!” -Bloomberg AI trained on Charles Dickens.

I have to assume the bourgeoisie have a plan.

IMHO the plan is : “I want a tax cut. Therefore cut spending that doesn’t directly benefit me!”

The neo liberal agenda has always been austerity everywhere (“except where I want to blow my wad”).

The US isn’t the only source of carrot in a multipolar world.

Cry harder, Atlantic. Russia offered a peace deal way earlier and the West didn’t want it.

Should be renamed “The Atlantis” and get sunk into the ocean.

If they had never started the Ukraine conflict they could probably have sustained the empire for a good few decades longer. Or if they never got into these self-defeating trade wars with China. Or if they didn’t give unconditional support to the genocidal Zionist entity.

You’re basically saying the solution is they shouldn’t be an empire or doing Imperial things. Hence the “Xi does nothing and wins” meme.

Age out and die off. The West was a loose alliance for fucking over nonWest countries. Keep going down. Hit the bottom. Shatter into many pieces.

US and EU not getting along - good. US and Canada not getting along - good.

🤩 OMG. You read Pearls And Irritations too!

The empires of the past did not fall because they were defeated by external enemies; they fell because they mistook their own pathologies for the laws of history. The West now stands at the precipice of the same mistake.

Cool! 😎

That’s a good thing. Fall off the precipice. Empires are shit. Who the hell is trying to save Imperialism?

The only issue is reducing how much damage the falling empire can do on the way down.

Honestly the EU could do a lot of stuff if they had their own interests in mind.

They could sell EUV lithography machines to China while there’s still a market for it.

They could invest in building their renewables even quicker so their energy costs can come down and they can afford to manufacture stuff in the future.

I think they won’t do that though. Warms my heart to see Europe go down the drain due to their own subjugation to America. Screw them for their geopolitical shenanigans.

Imagine if the EU spent a fraction of the money burned on Ukraine doing this stuff for the past three years.

It’s a good idea but I think the EU would still be faced with Trump tariffs reducing their competitive edge in their big export market. They already are struggling with rapid deindustrialization due to high energy costs. It all spells long recession.

I don’t see Twitter, Google etc pulling out of the EU any time but I guess it’s possible.

The EU are just going to fold. Their retaliation is not meaningful. They are economically weak.

The trade surplus they had with America is eventually going to be invested back into the US to restore their manufacturing. They’re going to just pray it all turns a profit. It kills their own manufacturing jobs but they don’t give a shit really. The capitalists survive and that’s all they care about.