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《货币战争》作者里卡兹：美元作为储备货币的最大敌人不是别国，而是美国财政部
熊超然 2023-04-10 观察者网
【文/观察者网 熊超然】近日，刚刚结束访华行程的马来西亚总理安瓦尔称，他在中国访问时公开提出成立“亚洲货币基金组织”。面对日益渐起的“去美元化”趋势，亿万富翁马斯克也认为，美国的政策过于强硬，导致各国都想要抛弃美元。
当地时间4月8日，著名经济学家、《货币战争》一书作者詹姆斯·里卡兹（James G. Rickards）在“福克斯和朋友的周末”（Fox & Friends Weekend）节目中警告称，尽管“中国在努力削弱美元的地位”，但美元的“最大敌人”来自美国自己的机构之一。
“美元作为储备货币的最大敌人并不是那些其他国家，是美国财政部。”里卡兹这样说道，并指出，从各国之间的实际交易来看，美元确实已经受到了“威胁与挑战”。
Economist sounds the alarm on the "greatest enemy to the US dollar:
福克斯新闻网报道截图
节目一开始，里卡兹首先对“支付货币”和“储备货币”的概念进行了区分，他指出，许多放弃美元的国家正在处理支付问题，但他警告说，美元面临的“更大威胁”是其作为储备货币的替代品。
美国财政部为何是美元的“最大敌人”？里卡兹在节目中这样分析称：“美国财政部将美元武器化，冻结了俄罗斯中央银行的外汇储备，其他国家则四处张望着说，嘿，如果他们不喜欢我的做法怎么办？如果他们不喜欢我的某项政策，他们会冻结我的外汇储备吗？如果你说我想摆脱美元作为储备货币的地位，那么唯一真正好的替代品就是黄金。”
福克斯新闻网的报道随后提及，马来西亚总理安瓦尔此前访华期间提出成立“亚洲货币基金组织”的想法，他认为亚洲国家经济实力已今非昔比，马来西亚“没有理由继续依赖美元”了。
安瓦尔还透露，马来西亚央行已经就双边贸易可用林吉特和人民币结算一事与中方进行谈判。彭博社对此指出，这代表世界各国对美元的主导地位“越来越不耐烦”。
报道还举例称，今年年初，中国人民银行与巴西中央银行签署了在巴西建立人民币清算安排的合作备忘录，中巴双边贸易和投资便利化得到进一步提升。
对于支付货币，里卡兹也作出分析称：“你给我货物，我给你货币，这就是支付货币，这就是所有这些交易的目的。这很重要，美元正受到来自各方的压力，人们正在寻找替代支付货币。”
詹姆斯·里卡兹 福克斯新闻网视频截图
“你正看到的所有这些关系，以及一长串的关系，甚至还有其他一些关系，比如沙特阿拉伯和中国等等，它们都涉及使用或不使用美元作为支付货币。”
里卡兹继续说：“如果你想要替代一种支付货币，（例如）中国从沙特购买石油，他们接受人民币，俄罗斯从中国购买制成品，他们接受卢布等等，这其实很简单，就像我们小时候用瓶盖兑换棒球卡一样，这只是一种‘记分方式’。”他声称，这种做法对美元构成了威胁。
事实上，在一段时间以来，包括俄罗斯、印度以及东南亚地区国家，都在不断讨论本国正进行的“去美元化”进程。各国认为，由于美元持续走强削弱了当地货币，该地区的经济体都在采取各种措施来降低风险。
马来西亚总理安瓦尔4月4日在议会回答议员提问，谈到“亚洲货币基金组织”。图自《马来邮报》
在今年1月10日新加坡智库尤索夫·伊萨东南亚研究所（ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute）举办的一场论坛会议上，新加坡前外交部长杨荣文就说：“美元是对我们所有人的诅咒。如果你把国际金融体系武器化，就会有更多的替代品取代它，美元将失去其优势。”
3月28日，东盟国家财长和央行行长会议在印度尼西亚举行。印尼新闻杂志《时代周刊》（TEMPO）报道称，会议议程包括：讨论通过本地货币交易（LCT）计划减少对主要货币的依赖，这也是对此前已在东盟成员国之间启动实施的本地货币结算（LCS）计划的扩展。
对于相关消息，美国仍“嘴硬”称，美元没有遇到任何实质性竞争，但路透社援引环球银行金融电信协会（SWIFT）今年1月数据指出，美元在国际支付总额中的份额已降至40%。
而早在去年3月，国际货币基金组织（IMF）副总裁戈皮纳特（Gita Gopinath）就已发出预警，美西方对俄制裁，可能会鼓励使用其他货币的较小贸易集团的出现，从而削弱美元的主导地位。她当时告诉英国《金融时报》，虽然美元仍将是全球主要货币，“但出现较小水平的分裂，肯定是很有可能的”。
执掌太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）和特斯拉公司（TESLA）的首席执行官马斯克日前也指出，国际社会出现的“去美元化”趋势“是一个严重的问题”。他分析称：“美国的政策过于强硬，使得各国都想要抛弃美元……再加上（美国）政府开支过大，这迫使其他国家承受了我们很大一部分的通货膨胀。”
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.
