Is this link more to your liking?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2017/01/30/iran-to-ditch-dollar/#2bca0067676d

funny, I don't see anything in the legitimate source about impending World War and the collapse of the dollar.

So in a time honoured tradition of webDip, instead of googling it I'm going to ask the forum:

Can someone explain to me how making everyone price oil in dollars matters? Don't all the exchange rates stay the same? Like it sounds purely psychological but maybe I'm missing something.

I didn't check the link but I assume it's related.

This isn't really a story. Many countries don't use the dollar in reporting their financial statements, like virtually every European country I would think. Nothing will come of this, just a knee jerk symbolic reaction by Iran to the U.S. temporarily banning immigrants from there.

Pricing oil in dollars just means that if you want to buy or sell oil, you will have to do so by paying or receiving dollar bills. Exchange rates are constantly fluctuating. So, if you want to buy some crude oil for $55 a barrel, but your currency drops from being worth $1.5 per euro for example, to $1 per euro, you can now buy less crude oil with the same amount of euros.

@Manwe

thanks for not making me type that

@Orathaic

please apologize for making me read this

It's just not using dollar calculations in official statements. Neither that nor outright abandoning the dollar would lead to war.

It happened once before when Iran wouldn't accept the dollar and went with the Euro. It doesn't mean anything since the trading partners can easily convert back to the dollar.

The only real difference is in how much the currency used fluctuates with the dollar. With a long term contract it can make a real difference depending on the direction.

Forcing everyone to buy and sell oil in US dollars is how the true value of the US dollar is maintained. Woe to those who defy the Fed.

Besides a weakening dollar might help exporters while raising us interest rates, no?

"Forcing everyone to buy and sell oil in US dollars is how the true value of the US dollar is maintained. Woe to those who defy the Fed."

Supposedly, but that is just a conspiracy theory, not a proven fact.

"Besides a weakening dollar might help exporters while raising us interest rates, no?"

The interest rates are determined by the supply and demand for money in the U.S., so a weakening dollar would not affect them. A weakening dollar would help U.S. exporters because it would make our goods cheaper, and hurt foreign exporters because their goods become more expensive.

I don't think fiedler was being serious...

I'm pretty sure he was being serious TrPrado. Have you read what he posts on the Forum?

I don't think those are serious either.

Look prado, if we are going to work together you must understand I am serious about everything, gravely so.

Conspiracy theory? ohohoho. Steel beams can't melt jet fuel Debra.

Work together? You're not speaking of...the business...are you? Isn't that supposed to be private?

We all work for the 1%. Even the 1% work for the 1%. The yardstick of success is how much we can sell each other out to the 1%.

True story.

Hey those stories only say Iran is not *reporting* it's oil sales in USD. It's not actually switching currencies in actual fact. You're a quack Ora.

Don't worry, it's all going along nicely according to Daffy Donald Trump, and it'll be a beautiful thing. Daffy Donald Trump is doing plenty of "good" work trashing the US dollar's value, which makes imports to the US cost more in US dollars for domestic purchasers so makes domestic producers more competitive within the US, and it makes US exports more cost competitive, though more has to be exported & sold to realise the same "value" ... But you can trust? Daffy Donald Trump, it'll be a beautiful thing ( with a nightmare at it's core )

Excellent stuff Marjorie.

@"Can someone explain to me how making everyone price oil in dollars matters? Don't all the exchange rates stay the same? Like it sounds purely psychological but maybe I'm missing something."

So when you pull oil out of the ground a new value is created. As long as there is demand for that you don't cause inflation. If all oil is sold in US Dollars then that directy impacts the demand for US Dollars.

The US is the only country able to print US Dollars, and thus has a great amount of power derived from this fact. The massive national debt, for example, can continue to be driven up, so long as there is demand for US treasury bonds. Thus the US government can afford to spend more on it's military than any other nation (by far) in part because of oil being sold in dollars.

It is like using gold to back your currency, the US uses oil to back its currency (and every other nation in the world uses the US dollar as a reserve currency to back their currencies).

It is no conspiracy theory to say the 'petro-dollar' is a part of the strenght of the US empire's economic might. (And it is more of an economic empire than any other kind...)

@Exports - i mean really this is liable to be affected more by Trumps suggested/planned trade war with Mexico - Iran has very little trade wth the US, but if they stop using USD to trade their oil, then either Euros or Chinese Yuan will benefit.

In theory, if goods are all made in the cheapest place possible (and transport costs are negligible) then you get the most efficient global economy without producing things locally. So US manufacturing jobs being in cheaper places is a net positive - and exports actually redistribute wealth to poorer regions of the world which is also a jet positive.

Of course i can't believe i'm defending globalisation, but really i'm just describing the theory. Trumps plan for trade tarrifs could benefit those American workers (Yay!) while hurting total efficiency.

Not sure, maybe the value of the dollar - as an abstract measure - is prohibiting the most efficient use of resources (human workers in the US) by this mechanism.

Either way, i'm not against Trump collapsing the US economy, if that is what he wants. You voted for him, and you should get what you voted for... But i am against war with Iran (whatever excuse Trump comes up with)

Arbitrage. The force that always finds equilibrium.

@those calling me a quack, did you hear glorious leader Trumpeting on twitter about how nice Obama was to Iran? And so it begins.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/donald-trump-meets-business-chiefs-prepares-dismantle-dodd-frank/