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I think this take is somewhat over-reacting. I'm pretty sure you'll find that the price they agreed is really in USD, and only the medium of exchange is gold (e

I think this take is somewhat over-reacting. I'm pretty sure you'll find that the price they agreed is really in USD, and only the medium of exchange is gold (even if the paperwork or agreement doesn't even reference USD). So really they are paying X USD's worth of gold - with both oil and gold price being fixed in USD somewhere abroad. USD is so incredibly ubiquitous, it won't easily go away. Reserves are a little different, but even then, whenever something bad happens, the dollar strengthens as investors flock to it. When the 2008 crisis happened (and it was US-centric!) US and the dollar were still the safe haven everyone escaped to. Not the Rouble, not the Yuan, not so much EUR or CHF or, from memory, gold. So we'll see people avoid the USD as a medium of exchange, maybe, even if the prices are fixed on USD-denominated prices. But also remember, gold is not a great medium of exchange. Will Ghana ship physical gold around the world (risky and expensive)? Or will they sign a piece of paper saying "gold held by in a safe by someone else and owned by me is now owned by someone else" - in which case there is similar counterparty risk, except perhaps not against the US government. But if you think the US is an evil octopus with long tentacles, surely they could get their hands on this gold. Where will this haven safe from US interference be? If anything, I can more easily believe an alternative economy based on crypto. It's actually happening and working well, for all sorts of shady or illicit activity.

kibwen 4y ago
> Or will they sign a piece of paper saying "gold held by in a safe by someone else and owned by me is now owned by someone else" - in which case there is similar counterparty risk, except perhaps not against the US government. The US holds a quarter of all the known gold reserves in the world, and has more gold than the next three countries combined, so there's a decent chance that Ghana's gold is already in the US.
bobthepanda 4y ago
EUR is still not a great managed currency. The Euro crisis could, technically, happen again. RUB backing economy is pretty much one major export. JPY makes American debt look chaste in comparison CHF does not want the job, primarily because its use as a basket currency already makes it too strong CNY does not want the job, and their past history of capital controls make America look chaste

kibwen 4y ago

> Or will they sign a piece of paper saying "gold held by in a safe by someone else and owned by me is now owned by someone else" - in which case there is similar counterparty risk, except perhaps not against the US government. The US holds a quarter of all the known gold reserves in the world, and has more gold than the next three countries combined, so there's a decent chance that Ghana's gold is already in the US.

bobthepanda 4y ago

EUR is still not a great managed currency. The Euro crisis could, technically, happen again. RUB backing economy is pretty much one major export. JPY makes American debt look chaste in comparison CHF does not want the job, primarily because its use as a basket currency already makes it too strong CNY does not want the job, and their past history of capital controls make America look chaste