The US Dollar Collapse: World's Larger Economies Make Deals Excluding US Dollar - Japan, China, Russia and India Join in

In an article yesterday, I pointed out that the exemption from the trade embargo with Iran that included Japan and ten European countries (and power house Germany) is just another sign of the collapse of the US dollar and with it, US hegemony - in spite of how the US government spins it. Please refer to: US Oil Embargo on Iran Collapses - Japan and Ten Other Countries Given Exemptions:

How is it possible that the #3 economy in the world (Japan) and the #2 economy in the world (China) not being following rank and file with US imperialist policies could be deemed, "success"? The other countries that are exempted are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Britain.

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The US oil embargo against Iran failing is just another piece of evidence of the collapse of the US economy and the US dollar.

Don't forget to throw South Korea into the mix. Even though they are not mentioned, you know that there is no way the South Korean government will sit idly by and be penalized when Japan gets a pass. There's no reason, now, why they should be excluded either!

Sick US Dollar equals end to US hegemony

A regular reader has now written and asked how is it that this news is proof of a dollar collapse (and with it further evidence of a loss of US power)? Well, instead of me explaining it to you. let go to the expert, Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge... (Uh, Tyler is just about always right! It's uncanny!) 


From just January 21 of this year, Zerohedge wrote on this very subject with links to several pertinent articles about Japan, China, Russia and the zeitgeist of the moment. Please refer to: India Joins Asian Dollar Exclusion Zone, Will Transact With Iran in Rupees:

Two weeks ago we wrote a post that should have made it all too clear that while the US and Europe continue to pretend that all is well, and they are, somehow, solvent, Asia has been smelling the coffee. To wit: "For anyone wondering how the abandonment of the dollar reserve status would look like we have a Hollow Men reference: not with a bang, but a whimper... Or in this case a whole series of bilateral agreements that quietly seeks to remove the US currency as an intermediate. Such as these: "World's Second (China) And Third Largest (Japan) Economies To Bypass Dollar, Engage In Direct Currency Trade", "China, Russia Drop Dollar In Bilateral Trade", "China And Iran To Bypass Dollar, Plan Oil Barter System", "India and Japan sign new $15bn currency swap agreement", and now this: "Iran, Russia Replace Dollar With Rial, Ruble in Trade, Fars Says."" Today we add the latest country to join the Asian dollar exclusion zone: "India and Iran have agreed to settle some of their $12 billion annual oil trade in rupees, a government source said on Friday, resorting to the restricted currency after more than a year of payment problems in the face of fresh, tougher U.S. sanctions." To summarize: Japan, China, Russia, India and Iran: the countries which together account for the bulk of the world's productivity and combined are among the biggest explorers and producers of energy. And now they all have partial bilateral arrangements, and all of which will very likely expand their bilateral arrangements to multilateral, courtesy of Obama's foreign relations stance which by pushing the countries into a corner has forced them to find alternative, USD-exclusive, arrangements. But yes, aside from all of the above, the dollar still is the reserve currency... if only in which to make calculations of how many imaginary money one pays in exchange for imaginary 'developed world' collateral.

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Who's this India country anyway?

India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, relies on Iran for about 12 percent of its imports or 350,000-400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is Tehran's second-biggest oil client after China. But Washington has snapped tighter financial sanctions on Iran and wants Asia, Tehran's biggest oil market, to cut imports in a bid to pressure the Islamic nation to rein in its nuclear ambitions, which it suspects are aimed at making weapons.

Read more here at the same article and see where Turkey, a NATO member is about to join the dollar "unluck" exclusion club.


The dollar is collapsing and with it, more than a century and a half of US dominance, imperialism and hegemony is coming to an end... Proof that so many countries can snub the US with this current embargo and get away with it shows that everyone smells the coffee too in spite of US government posturing. 


All along the way, though, the US government (and Europe) does everything it can to shoot itself in the foot.

US Oil Embargo on Iran Collapses - Japan and Ten Other Countries Given Exemptions

Great news! As I wrote in a post on Jan. 10 of this year, Japan is out of the oil embargo against Iran. In spite of US government bluster and threats, this news has just been confirmed... Signed, sealed and delivered.

Japan pledges to buy "less" oil from Iran... Please define what "less" means?

The New York Times reports in US Exempts Japan and 10 Other Countries From Sanctions Over Iran Oil:

The Obama administration on Tuesday exempted Japan and 10 European nations from the prospect of biting sanctions intended to punish countries that continue to buy oil from Iran, but it left open the fate of other major importers, including China, India and South Korea. The sanctions, ordered by Congress late last year to intensify diplomatic and economic pressure over Iran's nuclear activities, have put the administration in the difficult position of threatening to punish some of the United States' closest allies while it seeks to squeeze Iran's main source of hard currency.

The part where it states, "...but it left open the fate of other major importers, including China, India and South Korea" is complete nonsense. The last country that can afford a trade war with China is the United States. 


The article continues with the often used Orwellian spin by the US government over the failure of US policy in the next paragraph:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who announced the exemptions in a statement, cast them as evidence of the success of the new sanctions because the countries had cut imports. The United States, she said, was making progress in “shrinking Iran’s oil export markets and isolating its Central Bank from the world financial system.”

How is it possible that the #3 economy in the world (Japan) and the #2 economy in the world (China) not being following rank and file with US imperialist policies could be deemed, "success"? The other countries that are exempted are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Britain.

Yeah. That's a really successful policy by the US government when the biggest economies of the world don't participate. Who is Hillary Clinton kidding? 

This news, while expected, about non-participation of Japan is welcomed. Like I said, in spite of bluster and much back-room negotiations, Japan had already stated two months ago that they would not participate. Please refer to: Japan Finally Grows Some Balls: Oil Embargo Against Iran is an Act of War - Japan, China and S. Korea Opt Out:

Good News! Centuries of American hegemony and imperialism have just been given a black eye. Japan, following China's and South Korea's announcement, has stated that it will not abide by an oil embargo against Iran. It is the right choice. 

I think that Japan would know a thing or two about how oil embargoes lead to war. The USA under Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted an oil embargo against Japan that lead to the moderate Japanese government of the time being ousted for a more hard line militarist government that soon lead Japan into total war.

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Think about it. Of course Japan has to say "No!" Not only do embargoes start wars, Japan just suffered through the nightmare of March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami and then Fukushima nuclear disasters leading to half of all of Japan's electrical needs being stopped due to nuclear power plant's termination of service. Throw on top of that reconstruction costs and you have a Japan that cannot afford to pay higher bills for oil!

The US oil embargo against Iran failing is just another piece of evidence of the collapse of the US economy and the US dollar.


Hopefully, cool heads will prevail and we can start having peace break out and, instead of threats and bluster, sitting at tables and talking in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Tata Cars and "Tatas" (Porn) - Hooters! Comes to Japan

What do Tata automobiles have to do with "tatas" (women's breasts)? They are related to the economic decline of Japan. Read on....

Well, one of my good friends, Neil Bevin of Springboard KK. had told me the other day that my blog was really beginning to be depressing because of all the bad news... Well, sorry, Neil, my friend, but I have to call them as I see them.

I love Japan and want to live no where else, but things sure seem to be going to hell in a hand basket really quick recently when it comes to the economy and I don't see where things are getting better. One of my other good friends, Ira Hata of Bali Energy, strongly agrees with many Japan pundits who wrote to me about my blog complaining how upper Japanese management has sold their company future down the river in order to save their own retirement pensions saying,

"You can blame this mentality on the US who's ideals have been poisoning Japanese business values for years, Mike. Heck, the concept of life-time employment (a famous symbol of Japanese business practice) went down the toilet in the early 90's. Japan has lost it's ideals, values, and identity. She should give up and become the 51st State of the US..."

It might come as some surprise to many but there are a lot of Japanese people who agree with this kind of thinking and I am not so sure that they are wrong.

What's the point? Look at this first quick article across my desk this morning made me throw my hands in the air. It talks about how India is about to surpass Japan as the largest small car maker in the world.

From Business Standard:

India aims to become the small car hub of the world by dethroning Japan, the biggest maker of compact cars, a majority of which is consumed domestically. Last year, it had pipped Brazil to become the second-largest producer of such cars. While Japan produced 3.4 million small cars between January and December in 2009, India manufactured 1.48 million units in the same period. According to a top official from Tata Motors, the country's biggest vehicle maker, India would certainly become the biggest manufacturer of compact, fuel-efficient cars, as there is a growing demand for such versatile cars worldwide.


It might seem like a stretch for me to use this as a comparison of Japan versus the USA when it comes to a loss of competitiveness (which is actually the key to all of Japan's economic problems - besides having a government that spends and spends like there's no tomorrow). But this next article really made me wonder "What the heck?"


From the Independent UK:


HOOTERS COMES TO JAPAN

The first Japanese outlet of the risque Hooters chain will arrive in Tokyo on October 25, with more than 20 of the restaurant's trademark scantily clad waiting staff to welcome American franchise owner Coby Brooks and a long list of Japanese celebrities on opening night. Tokyo is a crowded market for restaurants, with overseas franchises such as the Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Friday's already well-established here, but manager Mark Imacho believes Hooters has a very different sort of night out.

In Japan, we already have one of the most racy and wildest sex industries in the entire world.... We don't need an American "Denny's" type of restaurant bringing porn to the masses... Trust that we already have tons of this sort of thing in Japan without having a chain restaurant bringing the same sort of low-brow "entertainment" in - especially a low-class American operation like Hooters!


Or is this just another part of bringing so-called "American Culture" to the world. Call me a prude, but, this sort of decadence is not needed.

We need solid industry... We don't need more sex industry, gambling, or this sort of thing.