The Euro…The New World Currency?

IT HAS ALREADY BEGUN!  The handwriting is on the wall.  The euro is heading to a position where it will dominate the World as its new currency of record.  This is an element of unfolding Biblical prophecy that Garner Ted Armstrong has been predicting for years!  This move is directly tied to oil, the world economy and new, emerging superpowers around the globe.

Euro Invoicing

A new phrase is showing up in the news, "Euro Invoicing" or the practice of various industrialized corporations and companies demanding payment in euros rather than US dollars or other currencies.  Like any process, it is beginning slowly and under the radar of some of the mainstream media.

In a recent article by Sify Finance, "Euro Invoicing Continues to Rise" they write:

"Even as the rupee has fallen sharply against the dollar, euro invoicing by domestic exporters has continued to rise.

"Bankers here said that some of the large garment exporters have also begun shifting to the euro. So far only some of the diamond and commodity exporters had shifted to invoicing all their receivables in euros.

"As a result euro trading volumes are also on the rise in the domestic foreign exchange markets. Till about six months ago only about 15 per cent of the trading volumes were euro-denominated. Presently, traders said that close to about 40 per cent of the trading volumes in the domestic forex markets were in euros.

"Daily inflows, which included both current and capital account, into the country are currently estimated at about $50-60 million per day. While this figure was down from the levels in March when it was about $250-300 million per day, euro-denominated flows had remained steady in absolute terms, bankers said.

"Traders said that one reason for the shift in preference was the euro's movement against the dollar. One euro is currently equivalent $1.23, up from $1.08 a year ago."

In a news story from last October, "Russia to price oil in euros to snub US", the Russians said that they were going to price oil in euros as a way of binding themselves to the EU.  Their central bank has been collecting mass amounts of euros for several months.  This type of political binding is reminiscent of what Russia did with Germany prior to Hitler invading.

In another story from last year, "[Hindu] Exporters shifting to euro invoicing", the author writes, "...it was true that there had been a shift, though small, from dollar invoicing to euro invoicing."  This again showing how, in each instance, euro invoicing began almost unnoticed.

Currency War

The euro is gaining in power on the World stage.  As I write this, the US dollar is only worth 81 cents when compared with the euro.  This sets up an interesting and dangerous scenario for countries who would seek to destroy the US.  Instead of military conquest, all they need do is attack and destroy the US dollar and watch the United States economy collapse under it's own dead weight.

As has been previously discussed in these commentaries, China is a rising superpower.  It is in the interest of most superpowers to lessen the power of any possible opponent, especially when their goals and politics differ so vastly.  China would clearly like to dominate the US as a superpower.  How can they achieve this?  In an editorial on the currency war, published last year by Alex Wallenwein, he states:

"They can sell the 316 billion reserve dollars they racked up by running their trade surplus with the US - for euros.

"When the Chinese sell dollars and buy euros, the euro will rise against the dollar. Because the Yuan (Chinese dollar) is for the time being still pegged to the dollar, this will increase Chinese export competitiveness compared to Europe, which will allow them to shift their exports to the 'market of the future.' US bought and paid-for productive assets in China can then be nationalized (it's an emergency, you know) and thus acquired for nothing, and can then be used to produce goods to sell to the Europeans.

"The Chinese can then repeat that neat little trick they did with the US and peg their currency to the euro instead, keeping its value competitively low against the euro, racking up future trade surpluses against the Europeans as well. They still have five years left under WTO rules until they must let the yuan float against other currencies.

"Isn't that just too cool?

"Meanwhile the US economy will begin to collapse of its own dead weight."

The point of all this is the euro rises even more in becoming the dominate World currency as the US dollar is destroyed.  The euro actually becomes the hammer of third-party countries to smash the economy of the United States.

Euro Pricing of Oil

I discussed this in our Word From on the impending Oil Crisis.  This US economy faces utter collapse if OPEC and other oil-producing countries begin pricing their oil in euros.  With the euro worth more, the US will have to spend more of its dollars for euros, thus driving the cost of oil up even more for Untied States citizens.  The idea of OPEC switching to euros has actually been around since the 1970s.  Notice this from a paper out of Southern New Hampshire University:

"In the late 1970s and the early part of the 1980s, a debate emerged within the Long Term Strategy Committee of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) whether to continue the pricing of crude oil in United States dollars or to shift to an alternative currency. This debate was rooted in the persistent decline in the value of the United States dollar relative to other global currencies. The choice of currencies available to price crude oil was limited for OPEC because of the inadequate liquidity of most other currencies. With the recent emergence of the euro, the issue of choice of currency for pricing crude oil has emerged once again for policy discussion. The current paper is focused on the implications of a shift in the pricing of crude oil from United States dollar to euro on OPEC members. Winners and losers are identified based on economic gains and losses. It is concluded that while such a policy would incrementally benefit OPEC en bloc, it would result in a disadvantage for the countries whose major trading partner is the United States and, therefore, would not be a Pareto optimal solution."

So apparently the only factor holding them back from going ahead with the switch to the euro is hurting some of its own OPEC members who rely on the US economy for its trade.  What if this changed overnight?  What if those member nations changed over to trade with the EU or even China?  What happens if the dollar becomes even weaker?  Both seem to be where we are headed.  The US is falling into disfavor with more and more countries, including more of those member nations of OPEC, including Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.  Witness this breaking news story from 10 September.

We predict the euro will continue to rise against the Dollar.  As the euro becomes stronger, so will the EU.  This will be the foundation to its rise to superpower status.  As these superpowers (EU and China) rise, the US will continue in its decline as the world rushes headlong to the end time events we see outlined in the Bible.
 

Breaking News Stories
Go here for the latest news stories on this subject.  –news story added 2 May 2008

Resources:
OPEC member states

Further reading:
See article: "Iraq and the hidden euro-dollar wars"
See article: "The Endangered US Dollar" 
See Word From, “It’s All About Oil”

See Word From, "Will OPEC Bankrupt The US?"  
See Word From, "Is A GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN UNDERWAY?"

See Word From, "Global Financial Meltdown...Now Near?"

See Booklet, "LONG-TERM ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS IMPACT OF WAR WITH IRAQ"

News Stories used in this commentary - click here