The Mr. X Interviews

Luke: When you say the USD-centric global monetary system is breaking down, what do you mean? Mr. X: At the highest levels of global finance, it has long been known that the number-one problem in global economics is the dollar-centric system. In other words, that there would eventually be a dollar crisis.

My firm, “Forest for the Trees,” or FFTT for short, is an investment research firm that occupies a unique niche on Wall Street, putting together a variety of publicly-available datapoints in an unconventional manner to identify developing investment trends.

Mr. X: Because the Western media writes as if the USD is the center of the world. Luke: Well, it is, isn’t it? The Western financial media has a point, doesn’t it? I mean, don’t the Saudis have USD-denominated debt and extensive social obligations? Mr. X: Oh sure, but let me ask you: What nation would not lend to Saudi or supply Saudi’s social need

“Events can go from impossible to inevitable without ever stopping at improbable.”

“Yes,” Mr. X replied. “In fact, the trends are playing out far more quickly than even you thought possible. The pace at which the USD-centric global monetary system is breaking down is accelerating dramatically.”

Mr. X: A very American response indeed! I suppose the US could make such a move were Saudi to “un-choose” the dollar as the world’s oil monopoly currency, but let me ask you as before—do you think no other nation would be willing to move its army to Saudi Arabia’s aid for the promise of future Saudi oil priced in its own currency? China perhaps? Le

if I conducted a mock interview with a fictional head of a foreign sovereign creditor of the US using the Socratic method.

Westerners have become so accustomed to the USD effectively equaling oil that they have forgotten it is oil that is the real value, not the USD.

And just as Americans have forgotten that it is oil that chose the USD as reserve, your American politicians have forgotten that if oil chose the USD as the world’s oil monopoly reserve currency, there is no theoretical reason why oil could not “un-choose” the USD.