Steven
I found this on Drudge Report You may have seen it.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/375364.htm
William
MYREPLY
William,
Thanks for sending this link about Russia’s desire to have a new global currency replace the US dollar. Russia is not the only nation seeking an alternative to the US dollar. While this link refers to something called “SDRs” from the IMF as a form of new global currency, this proposal has a weakness as the IMF is not a central bank so it cannot “create money out of thin air” the way central banks can. As I understand the IMF, it can only loan out money that it receives from its member nations so such funds would still have to originate from the central banks in various nations. If this is the correct understanding, then IMF SDRs would have no intrinsic worth, and may not instill much confidence into the global financial crisis. Some internet reports indicate that there may be a gold-backed or commodity-backed currency introduced and accepted by a group of nations (Russia? Gulf Cooperation Council?) which would supplant the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. If that happens, the dollar’s role would be in severe jeopardy.
Steve
