Hmmmm......I would agree that these are points to be aware of. I would also agree that there is no question that the relative power of the USA is weakening, even as it's absolute power increases. It's another way of saying 'the rest of the world is catching up.' I view this as a natural, healthy development. YMMV.
Russia may invoice day-to-day purchases in EUR that can account for currency fluctuations, but why don't they set oil prices in Rubles? After all, they have to change the USD to Rubles in order to pay their workers, suppliers, rents, etc. A good portion of the energy payments must be inevitably converted to Rubles yet they choose not to price goods in Rubles. Why doesn't Putin set oil prices in Rubles when selling to China? Nothing is preventing him from doing so, other than he himself.
The link to Lyn Alden was an interesting read, but while all-encompassing, I feel that a lot was left out even with the length of the article. I guess this is normal when painting with broad brushstrokes. For example, he suggested that the US invaded Iraq because Saddam sold oil in EUR, not in USD. Does he really believe that played a role? I find the casual claim to be staggering. But, whatever. Same thing with the comparisons of mean wealth and average wealth across countries. He glosses over the fact that it's about the same percentage in the USA as in Germany and offers no mitigating arguments. And that median wealth of the USA and Germany is lower than in Italy--I find that a bit dubious, but, well such is the nature of statistics, I suppose. To each their own.
All in all, I enjoy reading macro/meta trend articles, but at the end of the day they have to be taken with a large grain of salt.
