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《貨幣戰爭》作者裏卡茲：美元作為儲備貨幣的最大敵人不是別國，而是美國財政部
熊超然 2023-04-10 觀察者網
【文/觀察者網 熊超然】近日，剛剛結束訪華行程的馬來西亞總理安瓦爾稱，他在中國訪問時公開提出成立“亞洲貨幣基金組織”。麵對日益漸起的“去美元化”趨勢，億萬富翁馬斯克也認為，美國的政策過於強硬，導致各國都想要拋棄美元。
當地時間4月8日，著名經濟學家、《貨幣戰爭》一書作者詹姆斯·裏卡茲（James G. Rickards）在“福克斯和朋友的周末”（Fox & Friends Weekend）節目中警告稱，盡管“中國在努力削弱美元的地位”，但美元的“最大敵人”來自美國自己的機構之一。
“美元作為儲備貨幣的最大敵人並不是那些其他國家，是美國財政部。”裏卡茲這樣說道，並指出，從各國之間的實際交易來看，美元確實已經受到了“威脅與挑戰”。
Economist sounds the alarm on the "greatest enemy to the US dollar:
福克斯新聞網報道截圖
節目一開始，裏卡茲首先對“支付貨幣”和“儲備貨幣”的概念進行了區分，他指出，許多放棄美元的國家正在處理支付問題，但他警告說，美元麵臨的“更大威脅”是其作為儲備貨幣的替代品。
美國財政部為何是美元的“最大敵人”？裏卡茲在節目中這樣分析稱：“美國財政部將美元武器化，凍結了俄羅斯中央銀行的外匯儲備，其他國家則四處張望著說，嘿，如果他們不喜歡我的做法怎麽辦？如果他們不喜歡我的某項政策，他們會凍結我的外匯儲備嗎？如果你說我想擺脫美元作為儲備貨幣的地位，那麽唯一真正好的替代品就是黃金。”
福克斯新聞網的報道隨後提及，馬來西亞總理安瓦爾此前訪華期間提出成立“亞洲貨幣基金組織”的想法，他認為亞洲國家經濟實力已今非昔比，馬來西亞“沒有理由繼續依賴美元”了。
安瓦爾還透露，馬來西亞央行已經就雙邊貿易可用林吉特和人民幣結算一事與中方進行談判。彭博社對此指出，這代表世界各國對美元的主導地位“越來越不耐煩”。
報道還舉例稱，今年年初，中國人民銀行與巴西中央銀行簽署了在巴西建立人民幣清算安排的合作備忘錄，中巴雙邊貿易和投資便利化得到進一步提升。
對於支付貨幣，裏卡茲也作出分析稱：“你給我貨物，我給你貨幣，這就是支付貨幣，這就是所有這些交易的目的。這很重要，美元正受到來自各方的壓力，人們正在尋找替代支付貨幣。”
詹姆斯·裏卡茲 福克斯新聞網視頻截圖
“你正看到的所有這些關係，以及一長串的關係，甚至還有其他一些關係，比如沙特阿拉伯和中國等等，它們都涉及使用或不使用美元作為支付貨幣。”
裏卡茲繼續說：“如果你想要替代一種支付貨幣，（例如）中國從沙特購買石油，他們接受人民幣，俄羅斯從中國購買製成品，他們接受盧布等等，這其實很簡單，就像我們小時候用瓶蓋兌換棒球卡一樣，這隻是一種‘記分方式’。”他聲稱，這種做法對美元構成了威脅。
事實上，在一段時間以來，包括俄羅斯、印度以及東南亞地區國家，都在不斷討論本國正進行的“去美元化”進程。各國認為，由於美元持續走強削弱了當地貨幣，該地區的經濟體都在采取各種措施來降低風險。
馬來西亞總理安瓦爾4月4日在議會回答議員提問，談到“亞洲貨幣基金組織”。圖自《馬來郵報》
在今年1月10日新加坡智庫尤索夫·伊薩東南亞研究所（ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute）舉辦的一場論壇會議上，新加坡前外交部長楊榮文就說：“美元是對我們所有人的詛咒。如果你把國際金融體係武器化，就會有更多的替代品取代它，美元將失去其優勢。”
3月28日，東盟國家財長和央行行長會議在印度尼西亞舉行。印尼新聞雜誌《時代周刊》（TEMPO）報道稱，會議議程包括：討論通過本地貨幣交易（LCT）計劃減少對主要貨幣的依賴，這也是對此前已在東盟成員國之間啟動實施的本地貨幣結算（LCS）計劃的擴展。
對於相關消息，美國仍“嘴硬”稱，美元沒有遇到任何實質性競爭，但路透社援引環球銀行金融電信協會（SWIFT）今年1月數據指出，美元在國際支付總額中的份額已降至40%。
而早在去年3月，國際貨幣基金組織（IMF）副總裁戈皮納特（Gita Gopinath）就已發出預警，美西方對俄製裁，可能會鼓勵使用其他貨幣的較小貿易集團的出現，從而削弱美元的主導地位。她當時告訴英國《金融時報》，雖然美元仍將是全球主要貨幣，“但出現較小水平的分裂，肯定是很有可能的”。
執掌太空探索技術公司（SpaceX）和特斯拉公司（TESLA）的首席執行官馬斯克日前也指出，國際社會出現的“去美元化”趨勢“是一個嚴重的問題”。他分析稱：“美國的政策過於強硬，使得各國都想要拋棄美元……再加上（美國）政府開支過大，這迫使其他國家承受了我們很大一部分的通貨膨脹。”
April 8, 2023 11:23am EDT
Economist sounds the alarm on the 'greatest enemy to the US dollar': 'It's the US Treasury'
China and Malaysia reviving decades-old policy to reduce dependency on the US dollar and IMF
By Madeline Coggins | Fox News
US dollar being attacked from all sides: Jim Rickards
‘Currency Wars’ author Jim Rickards reacts to China and Malaysia reviving a proposal to reduce dependency on the US dollar as other countries look beyond the dollar for a new global currency.
China and Malaysia revived a decades-old proposal that would reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar during a meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week. The resurfaced Asian Monetary Fund would also lessen reliance on the International Monetary Fund.
Economist and "Currency Wars" author Jim Rickards warned that while China's efforts to reduce the dollar's power, the "greatest enemy" to the U.S. dollar comes from one of the country's own institutions.
"The greatest enemy of the dollar as a reserve currency is not all those other countries. It's the U.S. Treasury," Rickards said on "Fox & Friends Weekend, Saturday"
CHINA, MALAYSIA TO DISCUSS ASIAN MONETARY FUND TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON US DOLALR
Rickards made a distinction between payment currency and reserve currency, noting that many countries ditching the U.S. dollar are dealing with payments. The "bigger threat" to the U.S. dollar, Rickards warned, is a substitute in the reserve currency.
"A reserve currency is a different thing. First of all, that's the savings account, if you will, of a country. Countries don't actually have the currency," he said.
Even though efforts to replace a payment currency threaten the dollar, Rickards outlined how the U.S. Treasury presents the greatest threat to the dollar as a reserve currency.
"The U.S. Treasury has weaponized the dollar, frozen the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and other countries looking around saying, 'Hey, what if they don't like what I did? What if they don't like one of my policies, are they're going to freeze my reserves?' If you say I want to get out of the dollar as a reserve currency, the only really good alternative is gold."
RUBLE DOWN TO PRE-CONFLICT VALUE AGAINST DOLLAR
China's work to combat the dollar as a payment currency is still a major threat to U.S. currency. Payment currency, Rickards explained, is the currency decided upon for a specific transaction and "could be almost anything."
"You give me the goods, I give you the currency. That's the payment currency. And that's what all those deals are about. That's a big deal. The dollar is being attacked from all sides. People are looking for substitute payment currencies."
At a forum in Hainan, China last week, Xi told Ibrahim in a meeting he was open to discussions on the Asian Monetary Fund.
"When I had a meeting with President Xi Jinping, he immediately said, ‘I refer to Anwar’s proposal on the Asian Monetary Fund’, and he welcomed discussions," Anwar, who also serves as the country's finance minister, told the Malaysian parliament on Tuesday.
"There is no reason for Malaysia to continue depending on the dollar," he added.
Anwar said he shelved forming an Asian Monetary Fund during his first stint as finance minister in the 1990s. At the time, the idea failed to gain traction as the U.S. dollar was still seen as strong, he said.
Malaysia joins a host of countries teaming up with China to cut dependency on the U.S. dollar. Recently, China and Brazil struck a deal to ditch the U.S. dollar in favor of their own currencies in trade transactions.
"All of those relationships you're looking at, and there's a long list of them, even some others, Saudi Arabia and China and so forth, they all involve the use of the dollar or not as a payment currency," Rickards said.
China is Brazil’s largest trading partner, accounting for more than a fifth of all imports, followed by the United States, according to the latest figures.
China is also Brazil’s largest export market, accounting for more than a third of all exports.
"If you want to substitute a payment currency, the Saudis buy oil from China, and they accept yuan. Russia buys manufactured goods from China, and they accept the ruble, etc. That's actually easy. You can use baseball cards or bottle caps like we did when we were kids. It's just a way of keeping score and that is a threat to the dollar," Rickards explained.
China signaling its willingness to discuss the Asian Monetary Fund is the latest instance of the communist country extending its reach in geopolitics.
FOX Business' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
