Thoughts from the Frontline

Boneheads, Iraq and the Artificial Dollar

By John Mauldin

March 28, 2003

On Boneheads, Iraq and the Artificial Dollar
Central Banks Wave the White Flag
As the Dollar Churns
The Artificial Dollar
The Competitive Currency Dance
A Quick Look at the Economy

The past two weeks I have had so many people email me an article by one Geoffrey Heard of Melbourne, Australia that I am going to comment on his nonsense. Because it is so wrong and yet his arguments seem so seductive, it offers an excellent opportunity for us to learn how world currency transactions really affect the price of gold and oil and other commodities. Warning: I am taking off my gloves in this letter. This is one of the more boneheaded pieces of conspiratorial economic garbage that I have read in quite some time. I normally don't respond to such ranting, but because it is seemingly being read and repeated in a lot of places, it deserves some attention.

Basically, his thesis is that the United States (and Bush) is invading Iraq to insure that they will still stop selling their oil for euros. Bush and the American elitists he represents are apparently afraid that all of OPEC will want to convert to euros. To quote:

"In 1999, Iraq, with the world's second-largest oil reserves, switched to trading its oil in euros....Iran started thinking about switching too; Venezuela... Russia...The greenback's grip…

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