16 Comments

don’t worry Alek,

Though your blogs may not come as often as we might like they are so fantastic they are worth waiting for.

God bless you

Expand full comment

That’s what I was going to say!

Expand full comment

Same feeling as others.. take Your time Sir... I believe we all appreciate your work so much than the wait is... sure worth...

Expand full comment

Absolutely 💛🌅💛

Expand full comment

No apologies or explanation is ever necessary

Expand full comment

Thanks for the update, and echoing the others: no need to apologize. Are you still considering writing a book?

Cheers from Cheyenne!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you :)

Yes, I do. Most likely I'm going to look for a publisher next year.

I'll keep you up to date.

Expand full comment

Hallo anbei ein Artikel aus der jW in deutscher Sprache zur Frage Ökonomie und Formation

https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/464286.regulationsweisen-zwischen-krisen-und-transformation.html

Expand full comment

killin me with the suspense!

take it easy. it's a marathon, not a sprint.

world won't get any less screwed up tomorrow :-/

Expand full comment

Popularity depends on the quality of the printed material, and not on its periodicity. As one classic said: - Quickly only cats are born.

Expand full comment

Patience is worth it!

Expand full comment

​The oil price war pits Russia against the west, with Saudi Arabia now entering the field on Russia's team. Angola and Nigeria are entertaining suitors, it seems.

African members defy OPEC+ demand – Reuters

Angola and Nigeria are reportedly requesting that the organization allows them to produce more oil​

https://www.rt.com/africa/587916-african-opec-members-mutiny-cuts/

​ Tom Luongo has the story of how China saved Russia from oil-price-war sanctions in 2014, by lending Russia $US to pay bonds which came due, accepting payment later in pipeline output, using Yuan-Ruble swap-lines. Swap lines have now been set up with Saudi Arabia. China should be able to lend dollars to allow Saudi $US debt payments, support the Riyal, and break the Riyal-$US peg, which helps support the $US. This comprises an existential attack upon the $US, the wealth-extraction solvent for the western financial-military empire.

What Are The Saudis Really Preparing For?

So, to summarize before I go any further:

China is using their US Treasuries and US dollar surpluses to loan them to Emerging Market trade partners of significance to CHINA!

They are asking for yuan in repayment.

This stabilizes the yuan/usd exchange rates while China can and is rapidly expanding the money supply to deal with their sagging property markets as a result of the Fed’s aggressively tight monetary policy.

In order for China to expand the yuan into the new dollar vacuum without also losing their gold (Luke Gromen’s point during the conversation), they have to create a demand cycle for their debt, keeping borrowing costs low.

Since they have cross-currency swap lines with their SE Asian partners and offshore yuan settlement around the region, i.e. in places like Singapore, this is how they manage the expansion without creating a runaway inflation problem.

Yuan replace dollars without a massive shift in exchange rates and/or bond yields.

The 2014/15 ruble/rollover crisis was the test run for this.

https://tomluongo.me/2023/11/24/what-are-the-saudis-really-preparing-for/

Javier Milei has been elected President of Argentina by an 11 point margin, much more than expected. He promises several things, to go onto a $US standard and to get rid of the Argentine Central Bank among them. He is "anti-communist", an economist by training, an avowed enemy of financial elites who parsitize the Argentine people, a tantric-sex practitioner and teacher, and a pro-Israel cabalist disciple, who is a big fan of Donald Trump. As President, he will be forced to prioritize among these preferences.

April 30, 2023, Argentina To Use RMB Yuan In Trade Settlements With China [I don't think Milei can break ties with China. He should embrace the current swap-line deal.]

Argentina is a major source of soy beans and sorghum to China, as well as beef products. In return, China exports mainly computers, and home broadcasting equipment. Argentina has also applied to join the BRICS and is a member of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.

https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2023/04/30/argentina-to-use-rmb-yuan-in-trade-settlements-with-china/#:~:text=Argentina%20is%20a%20major%20source,the%20Asia%20Infrastructure%20Investment%20Bank.

With the Far Right candidate Javier Milei winning the Argentinian Presidential elections over the past weekend, Argentina’s invitation to join the BRICS grouping, given just three months ago, is now unlikely to be accepted. [I assume that spirited negotiations are already underway.]

During his campaign, Milei – who will take office on December 10 – vowed to abolish the Central bank, dump the Argentinian Peso as a currency and replace it with US dollars in order to overcome a financial crisis that has left 40% of Argentina’s 45 million citizens in poverty and pushed inflation to more than 140%. “I know how to exterminate the cancer of inflation” he has stated.

Milei’s radical ideas have also included cutting ties with Argentina’s two biggest trade partners, Brazil, and China. Milei has said he will not maintain political ties with China or any “communist” country, limiting relations to the private sector. He has labelled the country an “assassin” and claiming that its citizens are not “free”. He has also promised to pull Argentina out of Mercosur, the South American trading bloc, and has described Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a “socialist with a totalitarian vocation”.

When it comes to economic reality it is uncertain if he will be able to follow through on these statements.​..

​..Back in August, when Milei’s China views first surfaced, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, responded to Milei’s statements by inviting him to visit China. “I believe that if Mr Milei can come to China and see the country for himself, he will find a totally different answer to the question of whether or not Chinese people are free and China is safe.”

https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2023/11/21/javier-mileis-presidential-win-means-argentina-probably-wont-join-brics/

Expand full comment

Thank You, Aleks. I just threw that in because you wrote "Geopolitics & Empire" and it applied.

:-)

Expand full comment

Excellent, my pal❤️🐈‍⬛ I keep re~reading the Series, Economics and Empires; alas, a bit slow post spinal cord injury. Much to detailed to take it ALL in, taking my sweet time. Your gifts are immeasurable, thank you so much, Alek. 💚🌎💚

Expand full comment

Hallo Aleks

anbei eine Deutschsprachige Website die für dich Interessant sein kann.

Die Marxistische Blätter erscheinen seit 1963 und Spiegeln die Diskussion und Analyse des Fortschrittlichen Sektors im deutschen Sprachraum wieder

Expand full comment