Geopolitics

Iran Opens Oil Bourse

By Ryan McGreal
Published February 19, 2008

With the breathing space created by last year's US National Intelligence Estimate [PDF] that broke the Bush administration's stream of unsupported accusations about a secret nuclear weapons program, Iran has finally launched its long-planned but much-delayed oil bourse.

This may turn out to be an anticlimax, but it also may be an important catalyst for pushing Iran back to the top of the neoconservative radar in the waning days of the Bush administration.

As the petrodollar system slowly unravels, the US finds itself increasingly unable to continue living beyond its means by forcing the rest of the world to buy devalued greenbacks to cover its current accunts deficits.

With unstable global finance markets and a significant recession looming, the Iranian Oil Bourse may just be the aggravation that pushes the Bush administration over the edge. It's too early to tell, but this is definitely a story to watch over the next few months.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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By Ataraxy (anonymous) | Posted February 19, 2008 at 21:21:09

It took 6 month for the USA to get rid of Saddam after he switched to the Euro. That may be too long to wait for Bush to save his worthless dollar.

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By Ziggy (anonymous) | Posted February 19, 2008 at 22:04:30

This is wonderful news - the looming end of the biggest swindle of the 20th Century, the US petrodollar scam. When the US monopoly money is finally dumped by the nations who up to now have been forced to buy it, Americans will actually have to pay real money for their fuel, have to actually work hard instead of taxing the rest of the planet and hopefully, the US military will collapse for lack of funding and we won't see any more US invasions, gunboat diplomacy and deposing of elected governments. It's been far too long, but I think a major economic depression in the USA is long overdue, just to let the rest of the long-suffering world get some respite from US bullying and warmongering.

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By kevin (registered) | Posted February 22, 2008 at 17:52:45

I agree with Ziggy. I only fear the Americans will go down swinging (i.e. blowing everything else up).

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By David (anonymous) | Posted March 02, 2008 at 14:25:18

It will be very interesting to see how far the US goes to attempt to maintain the Dollar. But there may be no hope, because there is so much interest in selling oil in other currencies.

One thing is for certain - no matter who the next president is, the policy of supporting the Dollar with guns will have to continue. Gold was dumped, now the "oil standard" is ending, and guns are all thats left.

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