Worldwide Things Are A Changin' And Americans And Their "Leaders" Had Better Awaken To The Risk Before It Is Too Late.

Is America the
Sun or the Moon?

By Jeff D. Opdyke, Editor of Profit Seeker

Dear Tom,

Strolling through Warsaw last year, I stopped to take a few photos in the snow of 16th century astronomer and mathematician, Nicolaus Copernicus, who proved that the heavenly stars and planets orbit the sun. Most thought Nick was mad, given the conventional wisdom of the day that insisted the Earth was center of the known universe.

But with time — lots of time — people came around to the truth.

Today, many people think I’m mad when I contend that America is not the center around which the world economy spins. Conventional wisdom has them convinced that no other reality can exist.

But with time — far less than Copernicus’s theory needed — they, too, will be forced to accept the truth.

They will realize, probably too late, that this dog had its day in the sun and is now fat and lazy and pretty much living on its laurels, sleeping on the porch. The world, in reality, is now spinning around Asia, China in particular. And as soon as you drop your belief in conventional wisdom, the sooner you can begin to build your wealth.

To believe that America is the epicenter of our modern world is a dangerously dated and simple-minded belief.

We still throw our weight around — sometimes for good, sometimes for not-so-good. And the world still sort of shows us some respect, much like a teenage son shows dad a little respect on the basketball court … right before schooling him.

The rest of the world is rapidly moving away from an American-centric view; even some of our Western partners are beginning to look away.

Australia’s main trading partner today: China, which buys more than 30% of all the goods the Aussies sell to the world; exports to the U.S. are one-fifth the size. Clearly, China is more important to Australia’s long-term economic health than the U.S., and, thus, Australians clearly see greater utility in strengthening ties in the East.

Neighboring New Zealand in the last few weeks signed a currency deal with China that removes the U.S. dollar from trade deals between the two countries. Though largely overlooked here in the States, this opens the door to many more such arrangements and seriously weakens the already-specious but nonetheless conventional argument that the U.S. dollar will always be relevant because it represents 81% of world trade. Great … for now. But in which direction does the 81% go when other countries begin following New Zealand (and they most assuredly will, since trading through a third currency like the dollar adds unnecessary costs)?

Germany, meanwhile, announced last month that it’s expanding the new Silk Road with China — 7,000-mile railway already connects Chongqing, in south-central China, to Duisburg, in western Germany. That once-a-week rail link takes half the time of seaborne trade and is half the cost of air freight. Now, China and Germany want to expand it to thrice-weekly service, with the idea of one day making it a daily service.

China’s imports into Germany now are nearly double America’s. As for exports from Germany … well, China only marginally trails the U.S. Erich Staake, president of a Duisburg port company, says large trading partners like the U.S. simply don’t have the growth potential to be as meaningful as China will be to Germany’s future.

Sadly Regressing While the World Progresses

As someone who pays a great deal of attention to the ways the world is changing, it’s not very hard to see how these individual data points coalesce into a picture very different than the one that conventional thinkers here in America want you to believe represents global reality.

Yes, we are a great country … though certainly not as great as we used to be: 12th in economic freedom, 29th in education, 19th in corruption. We are, however, No. 1 in health care spending — yay! — but somehow manage 35th place in longest lifespan and 1st place in egregiously expensive medical care — not so yay! We lead the world in public debt and are No. 6 in household debt. We have the fourth-highest poverty rate among OECD countries, and we’re one of the world leaders in child poverty. Per-capita income is declining, not rising.

We are, as a country, sadly regressing as much of the rest of the world — including, yes, China — are progressing. The rest of the world is taking over the mantle of supremacy that the West, and the U.S. in particular, once controlled.

The emerging nations — led by China; sorry if you’re unhappy about that — are the new center of the world. They represent the global growth of tomorrow.

We will still be an important part of the train that is the world economy, but we will no longer be the lead engine. In a Copernican world, we’re not the sun; just one of the larger planets.

For investors open-minded enough to accept that, this is an opportunity. This new world that’s taking shape will create vast wealth for those who put their money to work away from America.

You just have to realize how the orbit is changing.

Until next time, stay Sovereign …

Jeff D. Opdyke
Editor, Profit Seeker

US Has Serious Challenges To Continue To Be Leading Economic Power And To Maintain Dollar As Reserve Currency.

Death By a Thousand Cuts — US Credibility and Dollar

Wednesday, 09 Apr 2014 07:46 AM

By Ashish Advani

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Each day we wake up and see the credibility of the United States being eroded further and further. Each day the United States is snubbed by the rising powers of the world and all we seem to do is stand by and watch the world thumb their noses at us.

We have Russia, which is waving the aggressor flag at us with impunity. While the annexation of Crimea was a foregone conclusion in my mind, I was fearful of it being only the first step in the resurgence of the old Soviet-era power grab.

It now seems that my worst fears are coming true. As predicted, Russia is manifesting chaos within Ukraine before it takes it over under the guise of rescuing the Russian minority/majority populace. The sanctions by the United States and European Union seem to have no consequence. The warnings by NATO also seem to have no effect so far.

Will there be all out war? Will Russia take over Ukraine? Will Moldova or Belarus be next? While I do not know the answers, what I do know is that this is not boding well for the United States as a super power who appears helpless to stem the tide.

Next we have the constant battle (below the surface though) with China. I have mentioned to you several times that China wants to knock off the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency mantle. It has signed dozens of bilateral agreements with small and large countries to trade with them in local currency. So many trades China conducts that are priced in U.S. dollars worldwide are now being transacted in non-U.S. dollar terms. For example copper, coal, zinc and other commodities that are quoted in U.S. dollars worldwide are being traded in Australian dollars or renminbi when China buys from Australia.

The ultimate threat to the U.S. dollar is now at our doorstep. It is now rumored that China is negotiating a similar bilateral trade agreement with Saudi Arabia. When that agreement is signed (mind you I am saying not IF but WHEN), we can start counting on the end of the dollar, as oil will start getting priced in renminbi by the largest buyer and seller of crude oil.

So what is the root cause of the United States being ineffective in exerting its influence?

In my view, the result of ignoring the rising tidal wave of debt is the primary cause of this degradation of U.S. reputation around the world. The madness of printing unlimited money and debasing our own currency has begun to take its toll. While the world watched anxiously for the signs of inflation to appear, the manifestation of this wanton debt increase has appeared in geopolitical terms at the onset. We may see economic turmoil still, but the first casualty of the increase in debt has started already.

It is only a matter of time before we see the shockwaves ripple through the financial markets. We will see the U.S. stock markets decline. We are already seeing the S&P 500, Nasdaq and NYSE all in the red for the year. We have also seen gold rise a little bit here. This is only the beginning.

I am certain that the most lucrative trade of the year will be short U.S. stocks and commodities (gold, silver, platinum and palladium).
© 2014 Moneynews. All rights reserved.

Dollar's Decline Might Be Propelled By Putin's New Currency. An In Your Face Slap At Obama

Dollar Death Spiral Gets a Big Push from Putin

It looks like things are about to go from bad to worse for the U.S. dollar.

U.S. sanctions on Russia have already backfired. They have further isolated the U.S. and given Russia a reason to completely move away from the dollar.

And now it appears that Russia is introducing a gold-backed ruble.

According to reports from Russian media, Putin appears to have sent the west a golden message in the aftermath of JPMorgan unilaterally deciding to block an official Russian wire transfer, as the Central Bank of Russia has introduced a new logo, which just happens to be a gold ruble.

Officials stated on the new logo: Golden Badge of the Russian national currency, officially adopted by the Central Bank of Russia, will symbolize a sign of stability and security of the ruble gold reserves of the country.

Image Source: Silver Doctors

For months now, many people have expected China to become the first nation with a gold-backed currency. But it appears Russia may have beat China to the punch.

Either way, this is yet another huge blow to the dollar.

Richard Nixon closed the gold window in America back in 1971. This was called the“Nixon Shock.”

After the gold window closed, the dollar maintained its position as the global reserve currency by reaching an agreement with OPEC nations in 1975 that would require all oil sales to be denominated in U.S. dollars — hence the name “petrodollars.”

The stated reason for the Iraq War was “weapons of mass destruction.” But the real reason was to preserve the petrodollar system by preventing Saddam Hussein from pricing oil in dinars.

But now the petrodollar system is breaking down fast. Russia and China have already circumvented the dollar and other nations will soon follow.

Here is the question we are now forced to ask: What currency will arise in the wake of the dying petrodollar? Will it be the Russian ruble?

This seems like a real possibility, especially now that it appears to be backed by gold.

Could Syria Be a Precursor of Bad Times For US?

Are we seeing the start of WWIII with the upcoming Syrian attacks?  Doug Hagmann in the following post believes so and tells us why. We can only hope that he is wrong. If not, things in this country and around the world are about to change drastically.

Conservative Tom

Intelligence insider: Syria, World War III & the hidden objective

Doug Hagmann - Canada Free Press,  August 27th, 2013

“Pay attention! You are seeing the opening acts to a global war, to World War III. Refer to the information I gave you right after the attacks in Benghazi, specifically to the information contained in‘Lemmings…at the precipice of WW III’ and you will see that everything I divulged to you was precisely correct.

World War III will begin in Syria, and no one on the planet (and Americans in particular) will be left untouched by what is about to take place. This has been planned for some time, and we are now seeing it happen right in front of us.” Those are the words of a trusted source with deep ties to the intelligence community, before providing more insight into what we might expect as this ‘crisis’ escalates and “Syria explodes.”

As I wrote in that article published on October 8, 2012, “All that is needed now is for a dutiful media to present one image, a video, or some other proof that Assad or someone else is using, or has their hands on, unconventional weapons. This will provide the necessary pretext for the U.S. and NATO, to intervene and ramp up the war against Assad. The UN will assist, and the red line will then have been crossed.” That will be the trigger event for U.S. involvement, and the escalation into a global conflict.

We are now at that critical moment, as the images of the use of chemical weapons are all over the news, and all fingers are pointing to Assad as the culprit. Just as predicted, The Guardian among other media outlets reported that “David Cameron and Barack Obama moved the West closer to military intervention in Syria on Saturday as they agreed that last week’s alleged chemical weapon attacks by the Assad regime had taken the crisis into a new phase that merited a ‘serious response.’” But it’s a lie, a magic show, to keep people’s attention away from something much bigger on the horizon.

Syria through the lens of the Arab Spring & Benghazi

“The entire scenario we are seeing is one big magic act that began long ago, and Syria is just the ‘flash-bang’ diversion of the act, albeit a vital one. To understand how we got here is critically important, as it identifies the larger agenda or the big picture too few are seeing and too many are attempting to hide.

Consider the blatant continuity of agenda that has spanned several American presidential administrations, both Republican and Democrat, Progressive and Conservative. This transcends political parties and the ‘political theater’ that has been designed to keep Americans occupied. Both political parties, however, are unified under a much larger globalist agenda, which explains why the policies of the Bush ‘dynasty’ have been exponentially increased under the Obama ‘regime.’

“Think about it. The anti-Assad ‘rebels’ are losing, they’re in retreat, because the exposure to the arms and weapons running from Benghazi caused the architects of this conflict to lay low for awhile. That gave us some time, but it did not change their objective of overthrowing Assad and taking Syria for the Muslim Brotherhood. The anti-Assad rebels cannot survive without Western assistance. Considering that, what sense would it make for Assad to use chemical weapons, especially as international observers were getting in position to investigate the situation, against rebels in retreat? It makes no sense, unless you understand the larger objective and the ‘big picture.’”

“Okay, so explain the big picture,” I asked my source. “And please do it in a way that I can explain it to my neighbor, or my family, so they too can understand what we’re seeing.” What follows is an uninterrupted monologue from my intelligence insider.

The big picture explained

“Here’s the global picture. When you see it, it will make sense. This is about reshaping the entire power structure of not just the Middle East, but of the world.”

“Remember that the 2001 attacks against the U.S. was the catalyst for our military operations in Afghanistan, and then ostensibly Iraq under George W. Bush, a so-called ‘conservative republican.’ We could have gone into Afghanistan, cleaned up what we needed to, and come home. Instead, while still in Afghanistan, we went into Iraq after convincing the world they had weapons of mass destruction. Remember that George H. W. Bush, also a ‘conservative republican,’ engaged Iraq in ‘Gulf War I’ in 1990. Essentially, we’ve been in Iraq for the last quarter of a century! Why? Think about that.”

“And, we’ve been in Afghanistan for the last dozen years or so. Why? Oil and opium. It’s an ‘international bankers war.’ [Note that a recent report from ‘The Guerrilla Economist lays this out here, excerpted as follows]: “…[L]arge US military bases are on the very path of the purposed [Caspian Sea oil] pipeline. This as well as that some of the proceeds from the lucrative opium trade will find its way back to US banks which will launder the money in order to help fund Unocal in the purposed pipe building project. Win Win.”

“Oh, and by the way, if you mention Iran’s nuclear ambitions, why did we wait so long to really address this and keep Israel from doing so before any action would require a very protracted military campaign? Keep that in the back of your mind.”

“Now here’s another important part of the magic act. After eight years of George Bush, Americans were weary of war. So, a little known man named Barack Hussein Obama was selected to run against John McCain in 2008. Why Obama and not Hillary? Because the real power players needed a man with Muslim Brotherhood connections to accomplish what was needed in the Middle East. Think back to his Cairo speech. Consider that all of his campaign promises to end the wars were not only broken, but the wars and unrest were expanded by his policies, or the policies of those who put him into power.”

“So we’ve stayed in Afghanistan and in Iraq.” Then comes the Arab Spring, which was planned years in advance. It was not some serendipitously spontaneous movement by oppressed people longing for democracy, but a Saudi and Muslim Brotherhood plan to regain control of what was once the Ottoman Empire, this time on steroids. People must think bigger, outside of the confines of the Middle East.”

“As much as I don’t like the thought of saying this, Putin was correct in asking what sense it makes to destabilize the entire Middle East, especially Syria, a client state of Russia. In the context of regional affairs, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now, we are going to send cruise missiles into Syria… to hit what? Chemical weapons stockpiles stored in densely populated areas? How is this going to help the Syrians? The refugees fleeing from Syria?”

“I’ve told you, and you have written that we are implementing the Saudi agenda across the Middle East. But who is behind the Saudis? It is the international banking cartel, those ‘too big to jail,’ who are behind the Saudis. It’s their war and they’re funding all sides of the conflict. No matter what, they win. But what do they win?”

“Admittedly it’s difficult if not nearly impossible to tell all the players without a scorecard, and even then, the players will change their uniforms to keep everyone confused. But here’s the important part. Syria is a proxy state for Russia, as is Iran. China has interests in Iran as well. If you look at all of the major powers, they all have interests in the Middle East. So who will we, the U.S. ultimately be fighting when Syria explodes? Russia. And what will be the blowback? That’s important to understand, for it is also the objective.”

Blowback

“None of what you are seeing is about fighting terrorism, or about helping the people of Syria. It’s about oil, energy and the global economic system. Conflict exists for the globalists to achieve their objective, and their objective is the implementation of a new economic system that will be a basket of currencies, or SDR (Special Drawing Rights). If you don’t know about SDRs, just equate it to the euro, but on a global scale.”

They will usher this in by striking at the United States much like the U.S. took down the old Soviet Union. They will target our economy through oil, cheap oil, from Saudi Arabia. Remember, Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil, neck and neck with the Saudis. But, the Saudis’ oil wells have been damaged and their ‘lift costs’ are increasing.”

“So, what we are about to see and experience in a most painful way is the destruction of the U.S. economy, the intentional killing of the U.S. dollar, by having it replaced as the world’s reserve currency, and replaced with a basket of currencies (SDR) that is much easier to control.”

“This is all about the conversion of world’s economic trading mechanism from a U.S. dollar based system to a SDR. The Middle East and Syria is merely the catalyst for is implementation. The ‘flash-bang’ of the magic act. And once this catalytic action is started, we cannot go back. War in the Middle East and particularly Syria is the catalyst that will disrupt transactions and commerce all over the world. And few will see it coming, or know what hit them.”

Zimbabwe Bashes Bernacke

Scary, that is the word I would use to describe the comments from Zimbabwe's Central Banker.  He wants to drop the U.S. dollar as the basis for their economy and move to the Chinese Yuan.  If this were to start occurring, it would not be long before the American buck would no longer be the currency of world trade.

Now, I know that you are thinking!  Why should we accept information from someone whose country experienced inflation of unheard of proportions?  My answer is, because they know the savages of inflation and the damage it can do.  They have seen the problems that result from runaway increases and can see the symptoms as they appear.

It is the same reason the police employ former thieves to warn people what thieves are looking for.  I would presume that Madoff has been quizzed by the regulators as to what they should do to prevent future Madoffs. Someone who has gone through the mill knows what it is like and for that reason only we should pay heed.

I read somewhere that the first breaks in a dam are microscopic. That would describe Zimbabwe. Are we going to ignore the warnings? I sure do hope not.

Here is more what the banker said:
Conservative Tom

Zimbabwe Bashes US Dollar, Alligns With Yuan

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/01/2011 15:02 -0500

• British Pound
 
• China
 
• Hyperinflation
 
• Monetary Policy
 
• recovery
 
• Reserve Currency
 
• Tim Geithner
 
• Yuan

It was three short years ago that the small former British colony of Zimbabwe was spewing forth 100 trillion dollar bills. Since then, courtesy of a few trillion extra percent of inflationary RDA, the country had given up on its currency and replaced it with US Dollars. Now, the country's cult central banker Gideon Gono has made it clear he wishes to avoid another episode of transplant currency hyperinflation courtesy of his counterpart in the Marriner Eccles building and "has warned that Zimbabwe’s nascent economic recovery is at the mercy of the United States dollar, which is facing new pressures from the Euro-zone debt crisis." Yet the screaming sarcasm is the following: "Gono says Zimbabwe should in fact be looking to the Chinese yuan as its main currency, while urgently seeking to restore its own currency which was abandoned in 2009 after a dramatic loss of its value. With the continuous firming of the Chinese yuan, the US dollar is fast ceasing to be the world's reserve currency and the Euro-Zone debt crisis has made things even worse." And the terminal slap in the face of all that is American: "As a country, we still have the opportunity to avoid being caught napping by adopting the Chinese yuan as part of consolidating the country's look East policy." Well, if recently hyperinflating Zimbabwe is complaining about the US as being on the same path as itself, and instead wants to become a Chinese FX vassal state, perhaps alarm bells should go off somewhere. So the next time Tim Geithner is up on stage somewhere, it may be prudent for a question to be be asked: how and why is it that the world's (formerly) de facto banana republic is complaining that the next up and coming B-Rep is about to replace it in the annals of idiotic monetary policy?

From New Zimbabwe:

Speaking in Gweru last Saturday, Gono said: “The extraordinary happenings in Europe where economic power houses in the Euro-zone have been hit by a debt crisis deserves extraordinary measures, especially here in Zimbabwe where we have adopted the U dollar as the major currency in our multi-currency regime.

China is now Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner, with the Asian giant absorbing most of the country’s mineral and agricultural produce.

Vice President Joice Mujuru first raised the possibility of adopting the yuan in September last year, saying it would be a “logical step” and could help solve some of the country’s liquidity constraints.

The multiple currency regime announced in January 2009 has been fraught with difficulties. Retailers are supposed to accept the Euro and the British pound but those two currencies have never caught on, with most transactions being conducted in United States dollars, the South African rand and the Botswana pula.

Finance Minister Biti presented his 2012 budget last week and expects the multiple currency regime to remain in place at least until the end of 2012 when ministers hope it would be replaced by a single currency for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

Gono, speaking at theConfederation of Zimbabwe Industries' (CZI) end-of-year business dinner, said the use of foreign currency was ultimately unsustainable in the long run.

“As long as we continue to use other people's currencies, where we do not have control over that currency, we are not going anywhere as a nation,” he said.

So all sarcasm aside, perhaps someone should be concerned that while the US is enjoying the third year of endless political bickering and deciding if this political candidate or that has had enough illicit sex, while rapidly losing all foreign influence, China is quietly but forcefully taking over the world precisely in the way that the US did in the 20th century: by becoming a primary trading partner, regionalizing its currency, and finally, a step that yet to occur, establishing CNY-denominated debt.

Does anyone still doubt what the endgame is?