re - OIL.
http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 4#p1524624
Oil has been the key to the fantastic success of the West over this period of time. Therefore it follows that the true VALUE of oil is immeasurable! We complain when the cost of a gallon of gas rises to nearly $5, but can we possibly know the true VALUE until we have to do without?
The COST of living without oil is perhaps the greatest burden [PUNISHMENT] that can be placed on a modern nation. For this reason, oil is the MOST POLITICAL TANGIBLE.
In the past, nations have paid a VERY HIGH PRICE for oil when man made conditions prohibited (rather than ENABLED) the "CHEAP flow" of oil. South Africa under sanctions (1985-1991) is one example.
So what is the TRUE PRICE of oil? What is the TRUE VALUE of oil? Is it $3 per gallon of gasoline? Or is it the VERY DEAR PRICE we would pay if it wasn't flowing our way?
What is a responsible government to do? It must look to the future and SECURE the inflow of oil. Why has the US stopped looking for new oil in the ground? Because long ago it SECURED the "CHEAP flow" of oil! A man made phenomenon! The future "CHEAP flow" of oil can only be secured three ways. 1.) Own the oil in the ground,
2.) amass wealth reserves desired by those who own the oil in the ground, or
3.) fool (trick) OTHERS into paying the VERY HIGH PRICE (in gold) for the "CHEAP flow" of oil to your shores.
Arabia has oil in the ground. It does not have gold in the ground. But it does VALUE the precious metal very highly. It always has. Even BEFORE oil became WEALTH.
The exploding world dependence on the "CHEAP flow" of oil has brought GREAT WEALTH to Arabia. Up until 1971 the ease of trading oil for dollars was accepted because these "casino chips" could be exchanged at the CASHIER WINDOW (the gold window). Then, in 1971 the "CASHIER" was closed for good.
What followed was "the oil crisis of 1973".
From Wikipedia:
End of Bretton Woods
On August 15, 1971, the United States pulled out of the Bretton Woods Accord taking the US off the Gold Exchange Standard (whereby only the value of the US dollar had been pegged to the price of gold and all other currencies were pegged to the US dollar), allowing the dollar to "float". Shortly thereafter, Britain followed, floating the pound sterling. The industrialized nations followed suit with their respective currencies. In anticipation of the fluctuation of currencies as they stabilized against each other, the industrialized nations also increased their reserves (printing money) in amounts far greater than ever before. The result was a depreciation of the value of the US dollar, as well as the other currencies of the world. Because oil was priced in dollars, this meant that oil producers were receiving less real income for the same price. The OPEC cartel issued a joint communique stating that forthwith they would price a barrel of oil against gold. This led to the "Oil Shock" of the mid-seventies... Until the Oil Shock, the price remained fairly stable versus other currencies and commodities, but suddenly became extremely volatile thereafter... The substantial price increases of 1973-74 largely caught up their incomes to Bretton Woods levels in terms of other commodities such as gold.
Then, in the early 1980's, the situation was brought back under control. A leveraged system of paper gold forward sales was set up to keep the price of gold (DOWN) under control, so that OTHER people's PHYSICAL gold could be shipped to Arabia at a low DOLLAR price. This would satisfy "the owners of the oil in the ground" and SECURE the "CHEAP flow" of oil to the US who had the SOLE privilege of creating those dollars out of thin air.
From Another:USA GOLD
It's more complicated than this but here is a close explanation. In the beginning the CBs didn't sell their own gold. They ( thru third party ) found someone else who had bullion. That "party" sold to a broker who sold forward for a mine or speculator or government ) . In the end the 3rd party had the backing from the broker that he had backing from the CB to supply physical if needed to put out a fire. The CB held a very private note from the broker as insurance and was paid a small fee. This process mobilized free standing bullion outside the government stockpiles. The world currency gold price was kept down as large existing physical stockpiles were replaced by notes of future delivery from the merchant banks ( and anyone else who wanted to play ) .
This whole game was not lost on some very large buyers WHO WANTED GOLD BUT DIDN'T WANT IT'S MOVEMENT TO BE SEEN! Why not move a little closer to the action by offering cash directly to the broker/bank ( to be lent out ) in return for a future gold note that was indirectly backed by the CBs. That "paper gold" was just like gold in the bank. The CBs liked it because no one had to move gold and it took BIG buying power off the market that would have gunned the price! It also worked well as a vehicle to cycle oil wealth for gold as a complete paper deal.
So, in 1983 Barrick Gold was formed...
And once again physical gold was flowing INTO Arabia and "CHEAP" oil was flowing OUT. But SOMEONE was paying the TRUE PRICE for this oil.
Then, probably sometime in the early 1990's, a group of Europeans that had been planning for a single currency in the "Eurozone" with the ECU that began in 1979 (at the height of the dollar crisis) and later became the EMU and the Euro, came to the realization that the path the dollar (and the entire international monetary and financial system) was on was essentially a DEAD END. It was not sustainable! At some point in the future this system, and its MONETARY FOUNDATION, would (MUST) collapse. This was not a plot to collapse the dollar. It was, instead, a RECOGNITION of the inevitable!
So what is a responsible government to do?
"It must look to the future and SECURE the inflow of oil." And given the three choices listed above, ONLY ONE COULD WORK! [2.) amass wealth reserves desired by those who own the oil in the ground.]
So the Euro was founded with the requirement that gold reserves MUST be (PHYSICALLY) held and MUST be marked to the (RISING) market price of gold. What the Euro architects recognized was that this new dollar PAPER gold market would (MUST) at some point transition into a purely PHYSICAL gold market. This was a MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY.
link
Everyone knows where we have been. Let's see where we are going!
It was once said that "gold and oil can never flow in the same direction". If the current price of oil doesn't change soon we will no doubt run out of gold.
This line of thinking is very real in the world today but it is never discussed openly. You see oil flow is the key to gold flow. It is the movement of gold in the hidden background that has kept oil at these low prices. Not military might, not a strong US dollar, not political pressure, no it was real [PHYSICAL] gold. In very large amounts. Oil is the only commodity in the world that was large enough for gold to hide in. No one could make the South African / Asian connection when the question was asked, "how could LBMA do so many gold deals and not impact the price". That's because oil is being partially used to pay for gold! ["CHEAP oil to the West" was the HIDDEN part of the price Arabia was paying for large quantities of PHYSICAL gold. HIDDEN --"gold hiding in oil"-- and did not affect the VISIBLE $demand fundamentals because most Westerners were perfectly happy with PAPER gold] We are going to find out that the price of gold, in terms of real money ( oil ) has gone thru the roof over these last few years.