GaryD

The Oil Price Denomination Fallacy

It isn't that the value of gold (which you fail to mention) or oil or euros is going up, it is that the value of the US dollar is going down. This is due to excessive money creation policies of the federal reserve and the US congress.

This excessive money creation does make us poorer and does make oil more expensive to those who purchase it in $US. It is relevant.

Having oil and other commodities, goods and services denominated in US dollars is a huge strategic advantage for our country since it helps to sustain our currency as the main reserve currency of the world. We benefit immensely from this position of privilege and it should not be taken for granted or interpreted as some kind of birthright.

The world is clearly anxious about the current direction of US policy and is searching for a non-gold monetary replacement for the US dollar. It probably won't be the euro (the Europeans are as arrogant as our own fed, if not more so), but I doubt that there is absolutely no possible alternative currency and that they will be forced in perpetuity to accept an inflationary currency in exchange for their limited commodities. The more the fed and congress abuses our currency through bailouts, phony inflation statistics, and artificially low interest rates, the more likely is the scenario of an alternative reserve currency emerging.