Bloomberg: Dollar’s tyranny about to end

Baku. 4 October. REPORT.AZ/ Political leaders who once accepted the dollar’s hegemony, grudgingly or otherwise, are pushing back, Report informs citing Bloomberg.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said in September that it’s “absurd” that European companies buy European planes in the American currency instead of their own. In March, China challenged the dollar’s dominance in the global energy markets with a yuan-denominated crude oil futures contract. Russia slashed its dollar holdings this year, claiming (inaccurately) that the greenback is “becoming a risky instrument in international settlements.” And French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters in August that he wants financing instruments that are “totally independent” of the U.S., saying, “I want Europe to be a sovereign continent, not a vassal.”

On the whole, though, U.S. leadership benefits from having a currency that’s in great demand. The issue is how to keep the dollar the favored currency of the world. Preserving diplomatic alliances is one way. Another way is to make dollars freely available as needed to trading partners, and to refrain from using the dollar’s dominance as a cudgel against allies.