Greenspan: Euro to replace Dollar in Reserves

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Greenspan: Euro to replace Dollar in Reserves

Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:24

Greenspan: Euro to replace Dollar in Reserves.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070917/germany_greenspan_euro.html?.v=1

Greenspan: Euro Gains As Reserve Choice
Monday September 17, 8:07 am ET

Report: Former Fed Boss Says Euro Could Replace U.S. Dollar As Favored Reserve Currency

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said it is possible that the euro could replace the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of choice.

According to an advance copy of an interview to be published in Thursday's edition of the German magazine Stern, Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that "it doesn't have all that much of an advantage" anymore.

The euro has been soaring against the U.S. currency in recent weeks, hitting all-time high of $1.3927 last week as the dollar has fallen on turbulent market conditions stemming from the ongoing U.S. subprime crisis. The Fed meets this week and is expected to lower its benchmark interest rate from the current 5.25 percent.

Greenspan said that at the end of 2006, some 25 percent of all currency reserves held by central banks were held in euros, compared to 66 percent for the U.S. dollar.

In terms of being used as a payment for cross-border transactions, the euro is trailing the dollar only slightly with 39 percent to 43 percent.

Greenspan said the European Central Bank has become "a serious factor in the global economy."

He said the increased usage of the euro as a reserve currency has led to a lowering of interest rates in the euro zone, which has "without any doubt contributed to the current economic growth."

THE REAL REASON WE ARE AT WAR!
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/iraq_reason.htm

TIME MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 13, 2000 - Page 34
FOREIGN EXCHANGE

SADDAM TURNS HIS BACK ON GREENBACKS

Europe's dream of promoting the euro as a competitor
to the U.S. dollar may get a boost from SADDAM HUSSEIN.
Iraq says that from now on, it wants payments for its
oil in euros, despite the fact that the battered
European currency unit, which use to be worth quite
a bit more than $1, has dropped to about 82 cents.
Iraq says it will no longer accept dollars for oil
because it does not want to deal "in currency of the
enemy."

The switch to euros would cost the U.N. a small
fortune in accounting paperwork changes. It would also
reduce the interest earnings and reparations payments
that Iraq is making for damage it caused during the Gulf War,
a shortfall the Iraqis would have to make up.

The move hurts Iraq, the U.N. and the countries receiving
reparations. So why is Saddam doing it? Diplomatic
sources say switching to the euro will favor European
suppliers over U.S. ones in competing for Iraqi contracts,
and the p.r. boost that Baghdad would probably get in
Europe would be another plus.

-By William Dowell/ New York City

====================================================================

Saddam Turns His Back on Greenbacks
By WILLIAM DOWELL/NEW YORK CITY
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,998512,00.html

=================================================================

The Euro And The War On Iraq
By Amir Butler
ATrueWord.com
info@atrueword.com
3-29-3
http://atrueword.com/index.php/article/articleview/49/1/1/

As Mark Twain once noted, prophecy is always difficult, particularly
with regards to the future. However, it is a safe bet that as soon as
Saddam is toppled one of the first tasks of the America-backed regime
will be to restore the US dollar as the nation's oil currency.

In November 2000, Iraq began selling its oil for euros, moving away from
the post-World War II standard of the US dollar as the currency of
international trade. Whilst seen by many at the time as a bizarre act of
political defiance, it has proved beneficial for Iraq, with the euro
gaining almost 25% against the dollar during 2001. It now costs around
USD$1.05 to buy one Euro.

Iraq's move towards the euro is indicative of a growing trend. Iran has
already converted the majority of its central bank reserve funds to the
euro, and has hinted at adopting the euro for all oil sales. On December
7th, 2002, the third member of the axis of evil, North Korea, officially
dropped the dollar and began using euros for trade. Venezuela, not a
member of the axis of evil yet, but a large oil producer nonetheless, is
also considering a switch to the euro. More importantly, at its April
14th, 2002 meeting in Spain, OPEC expressed an interest in leaving the
dollar in favour of the euro.

If OPEC were to switch to the euro as the standard for oil transactions,
it would have serious ramifications for the US economy. Oil-consuming
economies would have to flush the dollars out of their central bank
holdings and convert them to euros. Some economists estimate that with
the market flooded, the US dollar could drop up to 40% in value. As the
currency falls, there would be a monetary evacuation by foreign
investors abandoning the US stock markets and dollar-denominated assets.
Imported products would cost Americans a lot more, and the trade deficit
would be magnified.

It is foreign demand for the US dollar that funds the US federal budget
deficits. Foreign investors flush with dollars typically look to US
treasury securities as a means of secure investment. With a large
reduction in such investment, the country could potentially go into
default. Things could turn very bad, very quickly.

In May 2004 an additional 10 member nations will join the European
Union. At that point, the EU will represent an oil consumer 33% larger
than the United States. In order to mitigate currency risks, the
Europeans will increasingly pressure OPEC to trade in euros, and with
the EU at that stage buying over half of OPEC oil production, such a
change seems likely.

This is a scenario that America cannot afford to see eventuate. The US
will go to any length to fend off an attempt by OPEC to dump greenbacks
as its reserve currency. Attacking Iraq and installing a client regime
in Baghdad may have a preventative effect. It will certainly ensure that
Iraq returns to using dollars and provide a violent example to any other
nation in the region contemplating a migration to the euro.

An American-backed junta in Iraq would also enable the US to smash
OPEC's hold over oil prices. The US or its client regime could increase
Iraqi oil production to levels well beyond OPEC quotas, driving prices
down worldwide and weakening the economies of the oil producing nations,
thus lessening their likelihood of abandoning the dollar. It would have
the short term effect of reducing the profits of domestic oil companies,
but the long term effect of securing America's economic hegemony.

The frequently offered canard of the Left that this war is being fought
to secure oil revenues for American oil companies may have some truth to
it. However, a more plausible explanation may be that the Bush
administration is waging war to protect the dollar and smash the OPEC
hold over international oil prices. It's a war whose purpose is bigger
than Halliburton or Exxon: it's a war being fought to maintain America's
position in the world.

Attending the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, George Bush Senior told the
world that, "the American way of life is not negotiable". As cruise
missiles rain on Iraq, we are learning just how 'non-negotiable' that
way of life really is.

Amir Butler is executive director of the Australian Muslim Public
Affairs Committee (AMPAC), and writes for ATrueWord.com. He can be
contacted at abutler@atrueword.com.
===============================================
Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections - UN agrees to Iraq euro account
... sponsored by: UN agrees to Iraq euro account 30-10-00 A United Nations committee gave Iraq the green light to open a euro-denominated bank account to ... it the go-ahead to create a euro-based account for Iraq, the officials and diplomats ...
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntm04607.htm

UN agrees to Iraq euro account

30-10-00 A United Nations committee gave Iraq the green light to open a euro-denominated bank account to handle deposits from oil sales -- a victory in Baghdad's campaign to stop using the hated American currency. The decision eased fears that Iraq would follow through on a threat to disrupt oil exports if its request to start collecting payment in the common European currency was denied.
MUCH MUCH MORE:>>
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/iraq_reason.htm

HALLIBURTON'S $7B 'NO-COMPETITION' CONTRACT
Fri Apr 11 21:02:16 2003
208.152.73.170

DOCUMENTS RELATED TO HALLIBURTON'S $7B 'NO-COMPETITION' CONTRACT
TO FIGHT IRAQI OIL WELL FIRES

U.S Army Corps Of Engineers' Explanation That Inviting Other
Contractors To Bid For A Highly Classified Requirement That A
Halliburton Subsidiary Was Already Under Contract To Perform "Would
Have Been A Wasteful Duplication Of Effort." (April 8, 2003) [PDF]
http://www.apfn.org/pdf/halliburton408034.pdf

Additional Inquiry By Rep. Henry Waxman (D. Ca.) Of The Committee
On Government Reform On The Lack Of Competitive Bids For The $7B
Contract To Put Out Iraqi Oil Fires (April 10, 2003) [PDF]
http://www.apfn.org/pdf/halliburton41003.pdf

========================================

Halliburton Iraq ties more than Cheney said
... items all the time Halliburton Iraq ties more than Cheney said NewsMax Wires Monday, June 25, 2001 UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (UPI) -- Halliburton Co ...
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/6/.../80648.shtml - 31 KB

ShelbyCountyLiberalPress.org ® - Cheney
... Halliburton Iraq ties more than Cheney said NewsMax Wires ...
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http://www.shelbycountyliberalpress.org/cheney.htm - 44 KB

Phillips Petroleum
Phillips Petroleum News - News articles about Phillips Petroleum from thousands of online newspapers, magazines, periodicals, journals, and other news sources. All categorized and with search engine capabilities.
http://phillipspetroleum.newstrove.com/ - 87 KB

EyeOnTech
... take amounted to approximately thirty pieces of silver (adjusted for inflation from 33 A.D.) Need proof? Type "Halliburton" + "Iraq" into your search engine. Admiral John Poindexter, recently put in charge of going over your e-mails and credit ...
more hits from: http://radio.weblogs.com/0100001/ - 79 KB

Utility Fog Blog - Look Out Honey Cuz We're Using Technology
I didn't blog like mad on Sept. 1st. When I updated to Mandrake 8.2 all the file dates changed. I have since mastered the intricacies of "cp -p
http://www.blarg.net/~wayule/blog_cgi/blosxom.cgi - 135 KB

The Enemy Withi, by Gore Vidal, 10/27/02
Gore Vidal is America's most controversial writer and a ferocious, often isolated, critic of the Bush administration. Here, against a backdrop of spreading unease about America's response to the events of 11 September 2001 and their aftermath, we...
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/EnemyWithin.html - 73 KB

THE POLITICAL AMAZON: HOME!
... QUOTE OF THE DAY! Note: Until Bush Jr has stopped his Bush-Halliburton Iraq War ("Brought to you by those Fabulous Oil- and Energy-industry whores, Bush Jr and Dick Cheney"!), the quotes of ...
Description: Information on the VRWC, and political-religious right financial backers including Pioneer Fund, Scaife, Klayman, Pat Robertson, and Christian Reconstructionism.
http://www.politicalamazon.com/ - 65 KB

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