Russia isn’t alone in thinking what happens to those who attempt to abandon the U.S. Dollar as a means of exchange, which was likely the real reason for both wars in Iraq, plus the toppling of Libya, Egypt, so on and so forth.
It’s also highly interesting to note that this falls in line with what was described by retired General Wesley Clark as the U.S. plan to overturn seven countries in five years (see also HERE) in order to keep the next superpower from rising. Although that timeline may not have been 100% exact, schedules do change to fit needs in an ever-changing environment, countries have without a doubt been overturned and destroyed in a bid to remain on top.
The fight to undermine and dethrone the United States by Russia (and China) has been going on for quite some time and quite successfully under the radar of ordinary citizens.
An article by Mises Institute contributor Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna believes that now is the ideal time for Russia to introduce a gold-backed ruble.
Mises Institute contributor Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna believes that Russia may be in the process of planning for the introduction of a gold-based currency, and would be better off for it.
“Though a far-fetched idea at first glance, many factors suggest that remonetization in gold may be a logical next step for Moscow,” Christoff-Kurapovna notes in an analytical article published Friday on the libertarian think tank’s website.
The columnist notes that several factors may play into the decision, including Russia’s recent partial detachment from Western economic and financial structures, sanctions, the ruble’s devaluation and economic decline.
She further explains that even before the sharpening of relations between Russia and the West, economists close to Vladimir Putin have for years “been expressing [Russia’s] unwillingness to remain at the monetary mercy of the US and its NATO allies,” among them Sergei Glazyev, economic advisor to the president, and political ally to Deputy Premier Dmitri Rogozin.
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The expert argues that “while the Russian economy is structurally weak, enough of the country’s monetary fundamentals are sound, such that the timing of a move to gold, geopolitically and domestically, may be ideal.” The expert echoes commentary made by Russian economists and financiers, including recently by Central Bank Head Elvira Nabiullina, namely, that Russia’s debt to GDP ratio is low (equivalent to $478 billion in a $2 trillion economy), with most of its external debt in private hands, which has also declined by $100 billion, and with a budget deficit projected at less than 1 percent of GDP.
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A Warning to the Wise…
Christoff-Kurapovna points out that the transition to the gold standard would not be easy for Russia: “As a pro-gold stance is, essentially, anti-dollar, speculation about how the US would react raises the question of whether an all-out currency war would follow. The West would have to keep Russia regionally and militarily marginalized, not to mention kept within the confines of the Fed, the ECB, and the Bank of England (BOE).”
Broaching the subject of Russia’s possible switch to the gold standard, KavPolit.com columnist Evgeni Lihachev noted recently that even Russia’s moves to shift its reserves to non-dollar-based assets and to trade energy resources in ruble-denominated valuations have been viewed with hostility by Washington. An attempt to transition to a gold reserve would be much more serious, Lihachev says, explaining that “the fates of [Iraq’s Saddam] Hussein and [Libya’s Muammar] Gaddafi in these matters serving as a litmus test.” Many Russian geopolitics and economics experts are convinced that the 2011 Western military campaign against Gaddafi was related directly to the latter’s plans to stop selling oil in US dollars and to introduce a gold-backed regional currency which would have devastated Western fiat currencies. The earlier invasion of Iraq is similarly believed to be linked to the country’s move toward independence from the dollar. Lihachev points out that the United States cannot “act like in Iraq and Libya in relation to Russia…and those measures which it could take it have already been taken.”
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In a bid to counter gold-rush sentiment among both the Russian government and Russian citizens, Former advisor to the Chairman of the Central Bank, financial Obudsman Pavel Medvedev recently told Russia’s Svobodnaya Pressa that a gold-based currency is “absolutely impossible” for Russia or for any other country in the world, due to the precious metal’s limited supply. He noted that the modern economy needs far more financial liquidity than a gold standard backed currency can provide. “In a word,” he stated, “entering the gold standard is not possible –there is not enough gold to achieve it.” It remains to be seen what the Russian leadership really thinks about the idea.
Full article: Is Russia Preparing to Move to the Gold Standard? (Sputnik News)
Global Geopolitics 