Amerika's PETRODOLLAR hegemony - weakening by 1,000 Cuts, then WHACK - China's New Move

The global 'petrodollar standard' has ensured America's $USD financial hegemony over the entire world since 1974, after the $USD went off the gold standard in 1971 needing a new anchor. William Simon and Henry Kissinger thus negotiated the Faustian bargain of U.S. military protection for the Saudi royal family - in return financing U.S. debt by Treasury bond purchases and for OPEC ONLY selling oil for $USD. Ironically - Saudi Arabia also has been the ideological and religious fountainhead and bankroller of Wahhabist extremism, worldwide madrassas indoctrination schools, Al Quaeda, hatred of infidels, ISIS, and salafist/tribal female oppression.) Despite this evil history, you may have noticed the picture in the news of Trump 'kissing the ring' in Saudi Arabia, like every POTUS since the grand bargain was forged 43 years ago.

The ONLY way that USA has been able to get away with incurring such stupendous amounts of debt and money-printing at will, is the Petrodollar standard which creates gigantic artificial demand for $USD. If Bangladesh or anyone else needs oil, they typically first have to buy dollars - or to buy most other international trade items as well.

Well, I've been forecasting for years that the Petrodollar-enabled USA's 'exorbitant privilege' (as a French economist once described it) - will suffer the death of a thousand cuts. and diminish in market share over many years. Well, here's a really big WHACK at the Petrodollar hegemony... led by China, egged on by Russia and Iran, i.e. a new GOLD-convertible Chinese Yuan based oil exchange. The news is at https://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Commodities/China-sees-new-world-order-with-oil-benchmark-backed-by-gold?page=1

The deep and broad bond market in the U.S. , SWIFT dominance, the Petrodollar standard and the size of the USA economy have still kept the hounds at bay. Somewhere north of 80% of trade involves the $USD, and it is quite resilient. However its hegemony won't last forever. Hedges against the loss of $USD's 'exorbitant privilege' include various real assets, especially non-U.S. real estate, precious metals, and crypto currrencies, especially the crypto world's reserve currency, i.e. Bitcoin.