There are large quantities of dollars ready to flow away from foreign ownership, a legacy of the days when businesses were unquestioningly happy to hold them as the principal reserve and trade currency. There has been little alternative until now. Furthermore, China’s central bank probably owns half of all the world’s central banks’ dollar reserves, and it is now in her interests to reduce that exposure.
America is isolated from the global economic growth story, which is centred on China and the Chinese-led development of Asia. America’s abuse of her dollar privilege over the years has left a legacy of mistrust in the non-aligned countries, and these countries are now driving the world’s economic progress. At the Asian economic feast hosted by China and Russia, the only guest not invited is America.
America’s poor state finances and her reliance on monetary stimulus will ensure a continuing supply of dollars to the foreign exchanges through persistent trade deficits. The Trump presidency looks like being a disaster for the dollar, and as soon as this becomes apparent in the foreign exchanges, selling is likely to escalate. And as the dollar slides, it should begin to lose its status as the settlement currency for increasing numbers of oil exporting nations.
The final curtain on the Make America Great Again mantra will be the growing covert support for the Chinese opportunity from major international banks, driven by commercial reality. They simply cannot afford to stand by, and there are early indications of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs positioning themselves to be physical traders and suppliers of bullion in Shanghai. It would be a surprise if more Western bullion banks do not follow their lead.
Whether this is the time physical gold demand begins to take over pricing leadership from futures markets, only time will tell. But there can be no doubt that the balance of interests for China is turning to now see a weakening dollar. However, China is surely aware of the disruption she will cause in Western dollar-centric markets if she precipitates significant dollar weakness, and therefore strength in the gold price. She will not want to be blamed for overtly triggering the dollar’s demise as a reserve currency, which probably explains why she has deferred the launch of the yuan-for-oil contract, and is proceeding cautiously.
Obviously, geopolitics plays a central role in timing, with America desperate to oppose China in partnership with Russia as the dominant state on the Eurasian continent. The consequences of ending America’s financial hegemony are not to be underestimated, and China will not take such a step lightly. However, investors in Western financial markets appear to be beginning to get the message that the heyday of the dollar is now over, there is a significant decline ahead, and therefore mainstream investing institutions need to reconsider their asset allocations in favour of physical gold at the expense of the dollar.
- Source, Alasdair Macleod of Gold Money
