According to this factsheet from the US Energy Information Administration, OPEC revenues this year will amount to around $240 billion this year. That’s a significant chunk of demand for dollars, assuming all that trade is in fact done in dollars. But the reserve status of the dollar is supported by a lot more than just Saudi Arabia’s decision to price oil in dollars, as that Guardian article implies. And I don’t think Bush would have gone to war merely to preserve the dollar’s reserve status. First, he’d have to comprehend the concept, after all, and on the evidence that’s being mighty generous.
Anyway, todays Financial Times editorial (I swear that paper has the sanest editorial board in the world) on the Kerry/Bush race expressed my opinion perfectly, by savaging Bush while at the same time being skeptical of what Kerry has said so far:
I did hear Kerry mention China’s currency manipulation in tonight’s debate, so there’s evidence that, unlike the Chucklehead-in-Chief and his less-than-useless Treasury Secretary, he does comprehend what’s going on out there. That’s a good sign.