Background: In 1967, the United States and American chaebols held a total of approximately 753 million ounces of gold, which were held by the Federal Reserve (stored in the United States), Citigroup, Morgan, Chase, First Boston, and America. (Storage locations around the world, mainly Switzerland). At that time, 1 ounce of gold = 35 US dollars. This exchange rate is guaranteed by the U.S. government. In other words, any bank can hold U.S. dollars and exchange them for gold from the Federal Reserve (fixed exchange rate). As long as the short-term debt balance of the United States does not exceed US$26.3 billion and the US dollars circulating around the world do not flow back in huge quantities, then the credibility of the US dollar is unbreakable. It has been 22 years since the American plutocrats defeated all challengers and dominated the entire free world. At least at that time, the confident Rockefeller and Morgan believed that the American plutocrats they established controlled the Federal Reserve—the Federal Reserve controlled the issuance of U.S. dollars—and that the U.S. dollar dominated the world for much longer. Lasts for 1000 years. The great elector of the Thousand-Year Empire (New Rome), the golden years of glory and dreams. But since 1950, little attention has been paid to the problem that America's growing trade deficit has led to old European conglomerates holding ever-increasing amounts of dollar assets. Those old European plutocrats that suffered heavy losses in World War II and were temporarily dormant have gradually regained their strength. If Rockefeller and Morgan could devour the old masters, why can't we? The bloody fangs are gradually opening, and the largest financial war since World War II is about to begin.
The first challenger: the proud Gallic rooster.
Although the Gauls have strong financial strength, they have never actually occupied a large share in the international financial field. From the 16th to the 18th century, it could not compare with the Netherlands. From the 18th to the 20th century, it could not compare with the United Kingdom (the pound once controlled 80% of the world's international trade share, and this figure has not been broken yet). After 1944, it could not compare with the United States (the heyday of the US dollar). Controls 51.7% of the world’s international trade share). But France is a natural challenger. He saw the opportunity that the United States was mired in the Vietnam War, its government deficit and trade deficit were getting bigger and bigger, and the U.S. dollar was being issued uncontrollably, so he began to attack the United States, or rather, to dollar attack. He made careful preparations for this plan and found 10+ allies. This isn't the first time, nor the last.
Starting in March 1968, all French banks began to sell U.S. dollars and buy gold in the global futures market. Hold USD/Treasuries/USD Notes to the Fed for redemption. This wave of offensive is quite powerful. The Fed's gold reserves quickly fell by more than half. On March 14 alone, 400 tons of gold were taken away. The fixed exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to gold teetered. At this time, France suddenly discovered that none of the allies it was looking forward to showed up, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and various African countries. . . . It may not be a good idea for the dollar to rule the world, but it is definitely better than the franc ruling the world. After all, France is around us and the United States is far away. France, fighting alone, will not be an opponent of the United States. Although France's crazy run is dangerous, it is not enough to defeat the United States. The United States has successfully overcome the difficulties of the run, and it is so difficult that it has no spare power to retaliate against France. Now that the U.S. dollar has passed the customs, the U.S. dollar is still the U.S. dollar and is the main settlement currency in international trade. France, which held a large amount of gold but lacked US dollar cash, suffered heavy losses. At the same time, the embarrassment and weakness of the United States in weathering this crisis have also been revealed to the world. The second challenger will appear soon.
The Second Challenger: The Empire Strikes Back
Although the sun never sets in the Empire, it has long since set, but it is not willing to be lonely. Although the days when the British pound dominated the world are far behind, in 1968 the British pound still accounted for a quarter of the world's international trade settlement share. Seeing the embarrassment of France and the weakness of the United States, the British believed that their time was ripe. When the goal is not to overthrow hegemony, but to share world hegemony with the United States, it seems to be much easier to succeed. As a result, Britain was the second to end. First, it kicked the unlucky France hard, and then went all out to hit the dollar. The second wave of selling in the U.S. dollar has arrived, and this time there is one more thing on the selling list: a large amount of U.S. Treasury bonds and Federal Reserve bills. The United States' financing channels through the financial market are tightly blocked, and the United States is sad this time.
In order to relieve the pressure, the United States made the only mistake in the entire war, and it was also a fatal mistake: compromise. Compromise is a very common word in capital games. Since everyone can solve the problem by taking a step back, why not? Unfortunately, there is no room for compromise in the financial war. Because as long as you can take one step back, you can also take a second or third step back. The United States and the United Kingdom formed the 10-nation Western Group to decouple the U.S. dollar from the fixed exchange rate of gold and change it to a pegged exchange rate of 1 ounce of gold = 38 U.S. dollars. This has actually ended the global hegemony of the U.S. dollar. How can the U.S. dollar dominate the world when it is just a paper currency? This small step back (for the United States at that time) would only lead to the next and fatal enemy. Britain's dream of sharing world financial control with the United States only lasted a short time.
Terminator: The old European Union, the prototype of the Eurozone.
Hesse was a sad nightmare, and the losses in East Prussia made the Junkers beat their chests. However, it does not matter. The Juncker consortium, which has lost more than 90% of its members, has finally become an absolute oligarchy like its fateful opponent. After suppressing their hatred for 25 years, they finally turned into a counterattack and showed it to the world. In 1967, the U.S. dollar assets held by the German banking group were only 20.6 billion. With the great melee from 1968 to 1970, the U.S. dollar cash + U.S. bonds held by the German banking group at the end of 1970 was as high as 68 billion. This number was as high as 68 billion in early 1971. In the first two months of the year, it increased to a staggering US$81 billion (please consider the depreciation of the US dollar). This is a new force that can definitely influence the situation of the battle. But the Junkers are still cautious.
France's goal is to overthrow the hegemony of the US dollar. The franc is not enough to replace the US dollar, so France failed miserably. The UK's goal is to share the hegemony of the US dollar. After all, the pound is not the US dollar. So what if it succeeds? A stable US dollar is not a substitute for the British pound. As long as a stable US dollar exists, the circulation scope of the British pound will only become smaller and smaller. So what is Germany's goal: to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire and unify all of Europe. So now is not the best opportunity. Mark still cannot replace the US dollar. But Mark can use this opportunity to replace the dollar in old Europe. When the goal is clear, everything becomes simple. Germany contacted its inherent ally Austria and the Nordic countries, and won over the Netherlands, which has the same culture and ethnicity, and dealt a decisive blow to the fragile US-UK alliance. Faced with a sell-off of US$110 billion, and hidden behind it, the pressure to liquidate US dollar assets that is several times higher, all resistance is meaningless. The United States does not have so much gold, and so much has never been mined on earth. gold. The dollar sun has also set. In 1971, the relationship between the U.S. dollar and gold ended completely, and the U.S. dollar was just a paper currency based on the credit of the United States - or a piece of paper.
Germany's enthusiasm for hegemony was rekindled. This time, just like 100 years ago, we will unify ourselves first, then the German-speaking areas, and finally all of Europe. After watching the entire war, Japan came to a great conclusion: the era of great powers has passed, and the future belongs to Japan. The two brothers in distress, Britain and France, are silently adding to their wounds. A new war seems to be close at hand, but also seems to be far away.