Bush lied to you when he said Iraq wasn't about oil

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, May 02, 2003 By: Peter Armstrong

Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 00:10:04 -0600 From: Peter Armstrong herrqlys@hotmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Bush does not want Venezuela to use the Euro

Dear Editor: The comments from adeyc@breathe.com hint at merely the tip of the iceberg of financial havoc a serious shift to oil trading in the Euro would bring for the US greenback.

The current Bush administration "presides" over a record US current account (import/export) trade deficit which hemorrhages the US economy. The only salvation for the US balance of payments comes because the fiat currency for oil is the US dollar, and there is brisk global trade in that currency because the modern world literally runs on oil.

This demand for US petro dollars, combined with a previously safe/moral aura to the United States in general, has led to massive capital inflows into the USA. These foreign investment funds give rise to a USA capital surplus that is re-exported for interest and dividend earnings.

Where do you think the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund get their money?

Now, envision that some ... say 40% ... of the world's oil business moves to a Euro-denominated transaction basis ... this would do several things, all at once, and all bad for the US economy.

Firstly, demand for the US dollar would drop, which in itself would re-adjust those capital flows as foreign investors reappraise the best place to invest their wealth. This really hits the US economy were it hurts: the investment capital market. Much of the US economy is built on futures and derivatives trading ... a potential house of cards.

Secondly, any reduction of the capital account surplus would accentuate the pain of the current account deficit. Without the underpinning of a capital account surplus, the US Treasury can only print an unlimited supply of un-backed US dollars before inflation would rack the country.

Thirdly, the strength of the US dollar is somewhat fictitious. Anglo-American manipulation of the gold market, the over-hyped capital magnet of the major US stock exchanges, and the petro dollar effect all lend support to the US dollar. A serious erosion of any one of these supports to the US dollar could collapse the house of cards.

The concept of economies ... or oil transactions ... switching to a Euro-denominated currency is a nightmare for any US administration. Expect the White House, Wall Street, the CIA, Disney World, McDonald's, and mom's apple pie franchise to all fight tooth and nail against such a development.

Bush lied to you when he said Iraq "wasn't about oil."

Believe me, this kind of lie, and the illegal invasion that followed, will be small potatoes when the world starts to kick the US where it really hurts. But maybe it's time to change the "might is right" imperialist run of the world's superpower ... there will have to be a heroic battle at some time or another, anyway, over the way most us live on this small planet.

Standard of living does not necessarily equate to quality of life.

Don't be swayed by threats that impinging the US hegemony will reduce your standard of living ... European morality appears to be on a higher plane, at the moment, than that displayed by the United States.

Buy Euros ... Buy/sell oil in Euros.  I sense that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez knows all of this already and I expect PDVSA to start offering a Euro price list in the very near future.

Peter Armstrong herrqlys@hotmail.com