The law department at Leuven University deprives man of his right to exist for his own sake.

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of man. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs. (1)

This 1932 quote of Walter Lippmann appears at the outset of Volume 2 “The Mirage of Social Justice” of Nobel laureate for economics Friedrich A. von Hayek’s “Law, Legislation, and Liberty”.

The back cover of that Volume 2 says that the Volume denounces the concept of “social justice”. Hayek argues, continues the back cover, that within a free market economy, the concept of “social justice” is devoid of meaning and therefore a harmful cause of misdirection of well-meant efforts. Hayek stands convinced that only a central authority and a directed economy could distribute material goods equally among all people – and this only at the cost of individual liberties and the curtailment of freedom of choice in occupation.

Hayek writes on p. XI of the Volume that the underlying consideration (one could hardly call it a principle) of “social justice” is not capable of general application.
People would never be able to agree on what “social justice” requires.
People who habitually employ the phrase do not know themselves what they mean by it and use it as an assertion that a claim is justified without giving a reason for it.
Hayek was therefore forced to conclude that the term “social justice” is entirely empty and meaningless.
The more he tried to give it a definite meaning the more it fell apart.
The conception of justice requires that it be justified by a general rule, says Hayek.

For Hayek, justice is indeed an attribute of human conduct, and the attempt – inherent in the concept of “social” justice – to apply the concept to a state of affairs, without any reference to the human actions that produced it, does violence to our understanding of responsibility and choice. (2)

Hayek claims that the ideal of social justice – understood as people being rewarded on the basis of what they merit -  is meaningless and cannot be realised within a commercial society.
Hayek’s argument is clearly NOT that there cannot be non-market welfare provision, for of this he was an advocate.
RATHER, it is his view that many significant occurrences in societies like ours are the products of disaggregated action and that this may have profound implications for what can – and what cannot – be achieved in such societies. (3)

Contrary to what Rawls argues in “A Theory of Justice”, there is, for Hayek, no such thing as a just distribution, conceived independently of the deliberate choices that bring it about. (4)

Hayek explains at the outset of chapter nine “Social or Distributive Justice”, pages 62-63, of Volume 2 of “Law, legislation, and Liberty” that the abuse of the word “social justice” threatens to destroy the conception of law which made it the safeguard of individual freedom. It is perhaps not surprising that men should have applied to the joint effects of the actions of many people, even where these were never foreseen or intended, the conception of justice which they had developed with respect to the conduct of individuals towards each other. “Social” justice (or sometimes “economic” justice) came to be regarded as an attribute which the “actions” of society or the “treatment” of individuals an groups by society, ought to possess. As PRIMITIVE THINKING usually does when first noticing some regular processes, the results of the spontaneous ordering of the market were interpreted as if some thinking being deliberately directed them, or as if the particular benefits or harm different persons derived from them were determined by deliberate acts of will, and could therefore be guided by moral rules. This conception of “social” justice is thus a direct consequence of that ANTHROPOMORPHISM or personification by which naive thinking tries to account for all self-ordering processes. It is a sign of the IMMATURITY OF OUR MINDS that we have not yet outgrown these primitive concepts and still demand from an impersonal process which brings about a greater satisfaction of human desires than any deliberate human organisation could achieve, that it conform to the moral precepts men have evolved for the guidance of their individual actions. (all capitalisations mine)

“It is idle to assume that ethically desirable results will necessarily be produced by an ethically indifferent instrument”, said P. H. Wickseed in 1910. (5)

Not so for two of the leading brains behind the law department at Leuven University until the third quarter of last decade.

For Professor Walter Van Gerven, who taught contract law, commercial law and European law at Leuven and other universities and was Advocate-General at the European Court of Justice,
in his 2005 book “The European Union – A polity of peoples and states” (6),
the pursuit of social justice by enabling dignified living for all is seen in Europe as an objective of good governance. (p. 211)

For his senior by one or two years, Professor Roger Blanpain who taught Belgian and comparative labour law at Leuven and other universities,
in his 2008 Memoirs “Wat kan ik voor u doen?” (7),
for every student of labour law, the International Labour Organisation is a beacon of social justice. (p. 278)

Yes, Van Gerven has also a section “III Social Justice and the Welfare State” on p. 183 where he writes inter alia that the answer to the question whether social justice is a matter to be pursued by the welfare state as an objective of good governance will differ from one country to another, depending on the goal that it assigns to social welfare policy.

But from somebody like Blanpain who specialises in labour law, I had expected the term “social justice” to figure more prominently and earlier in his book which has 324 pages plus the annexes and the Preface by Professor Mark Eyskens, an economics professor and politician who obtained his Leuven law degree the same year as Blanpain.

Blanpain makes however a reference to ILO.

Blanpain’s Memoirs were published in September 2008.

The website of the ILO refers to a 2009 book “The International Labour Organization and the quest for social justice, 1919-2009” published by the ILO and written by Gerry Rodgers, Lee Swepston, Eddy Lee and Jasmien van Daele exploring key ideas that the ILO has championed and applied through the political and economic upheavals of the last 90 years: rights at work, the quality of employment, income protection, employment and poverty reduction, a fair globalisation and today’s overriding goal of decent work for all. (8)

The book thus has “social justice” in its title.

I DID NOT READ the book. However, I am UNABLE to find in the two references I find on the web to book that the book would define social justice.

The title of Blanpain’s Memoirs is “Wat kan ik voor u doen?”, “What can I do for you?”.

Does this mean that social justice is just a cover for altruism?

Ayn Rand said, the basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value. (9)

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
Walter Lippmann, “An Inquiry into the Principles of a Good Society”, Boston, 1937, p. 267
quoted on the forepage of Nobel laureate for economics Friedrich A. von Hayek’s “Law, Legislation, and Liberty”, Volume 2 “The Mirage of Social justice”, The University of Chicago Press, 1976

(2)
Roger Scruton, “Hayek and conservatism”,  in: Edward Feser, ed., “The Cambridge Companion to Hayek”, Cambridge University Press,  2006,  208,  p. 213

(3)
Jeremy Shearmur, “Hayek’s politics”, in: Feser, ed, op. cit.,  148, p. 153 – 154

(4)
Roger Scruton, art. cit., p. 220

(5)
P.H. Wickseed, “The Common Sense of the Political Economy”, London, 1910, p. 184, quoted by Hayek as a note to the text of p. 63 of Volume 2 of “Law, Legislation, and Liberty”

(6)
Walter Van Gerven. “The European Union – A polity of peoples and states”, Stanford University Press, 2005

(7)
Roger Blanpain “Memoires – Wat kan ik voor u doen?”, Bruges, Vanden Broele 2008

(8)
Gerry Rodgers, Lee Swepston, Eddy Lee and Jasmien van Daele, “The International Labour Organization and the quest for social justice, 1919-2009”, ILO Publications, 2009
http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/Publications/ILOBookstore/Orderonline/Books/lang–en/WCMS_104643/index.htm
and
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/article/wcms_105096.pdf

(9)
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/altruism.html

Oil is the Khaleeji, the GCC single currency

Sri Lanka, India and China show the way towards liberation from dollar colonialism

The Gulf oil producers possess the only commodity in the world that is large enough for gold to hide in.

It is the plunder by the dollar Financial Industry which has caused the present crisis.

As long as the dollar regime continues to dictate Asian monetary policy,
FreeGold,
the marking to market of the gold reserves of individuals, corporations and governments,
can never arise.

1.
Our debt-driven political economy, based on irredeemable, at least unbacked, paper money and fractional-reserve banking, has reached a crisis point.

The crisis is due precisely to the fact
that central banksters are not jailed for issuing irredeemable, at least unbacked, paper money
and
that non-central banksters are not jailed for conducting business on a fractional-reserve basis.

In politics everything is absurd of course. But the absurdity here concerns the CRIMINAL IRRESPONSIBILITY of “our” Masters.
That’s where “our” debt-driven political economy is leading us to.

FREE-GOLD aims at RE-RESPONSIBILISING the sheeple.

FreeGold wants to achieve this by reducing the dollar Financial Industry to “reasonable” (whatever that may be) proportions.

Once that goal will have been achieved, we may become PRODUCTIVE again, instead of betting on artificial price movements.

If we want to exit the Crisis, we have to address its causes, irredeemable, at least unbacked, paper money and fractional-reserve banking.

Only by addressing these issues, can
IRRESPONSIBILITY of our Masters
and
UNPRODUCTIVITY in this DEBT-DRIVEN POLITICAL ECONOMY
come to an end.

That is the fundamental gold message.

2.
It is the plunder by the dollar Financial Industry which has caused the present crisis.

While
W A Wijewardene, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, was arguing on 30 April 2009 at Windsor, UK, in his own name,
that the primary objective of a central bank is to stabilise the value of its currency and continue to maintain that stability to facilitate long term economic growth,
and that this objective takes precedence over any other ancillary objectives assigned to a central bank, such as providing liquidity to the government to bridge its revenue and expenditure flows or refinancing banks’ loans to priority sectors (1),

politicians and central banks have laid down for more than a decade  a policy to drive people away from natural money towards fiat money.

To anyone reading the 1996 “Gold in the Indian Economic System” speech by Dr Y V Reddy, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (2), it should be clear that for years, there has been strong political desires that have driven regulation into the gold market.

As a reaction to this bureaucratic regulation, Yu Qiao, an economics professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, says that the establishment and then break up of the gold standard taught the world that prosperity is dependent upon global economic integration; that globalisation in turn is dependent upon a universal money; and that such a currency based on SOVEREIGN FIAT IS UNSTABLE. (3)

Yu goes on to argue for the yuan, with its increasing FreeGold reserves, to be a regional currency to rival the US of A dollar.

This again demonstrates that the Asians are very well aware of the problem.

The problem is called dollar colonialism.

The dollar is worthless piece of paper.

Gold is wealth.

Oil is the only commodity in the world that is large enough for gold to hide in.

Oil is money.

Oil is the Gulf Co-operation Council single currency

Oil is the Khaleeji.

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
Auditing Central Bank functions: views from the top
24 May, 2009  11:43:36
By W A Wijewardene
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=1306263091
May 23, 2009 (LBO)
This is the text of a speech delivered at a seminar on ‘Effective Internal Audit for Central Banks’ on April 30, at Windsor, UK. The writer is The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be construed as those representing the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
SNIP
The primary objective of a central bank is to stabilise the value of its currency and continue to maintain that stability to facilitate long term economic growth.
There could be other ancillary objectives assigned to a central bank, such as providing liquidity to the government to bridge its revenue and expenditure flows or refinancing banks’ loans to priority sectors.
But the primary objective of a central bank takes precedence over any such ancillary objective and, if there is a conflict between the two, a central bank should always give priority to its primary objective . This is because the success or failure of a central bank is gauged by its attainment of the primary objective and not the ancillary objectives

(2)
Gold in the Indian Economic System
Address by Dr.Y.V.Reddy, Deputy Governor at the Gold Economic Conference organised by the World Gold Council at New Delhi on November 28, 1996.
http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Speeches/PDFs/7948.pdf
SNIP
“REVIEW OF POLICY
6. The evolution of the gold control policy since independence was centred around five main objectives viz. (a) to wean people away from gold, (b) to regulate supply of gold, (c) to reduce smuggling, (d) to reduce the demand for gold and (e) to reduce the domestic price of gold….”

(3)
Chinese Economist: Yuan Should Be Regional Currency to Rival Dollar
China at risk since the U.S. is undermining the dollar, says Tsinghua professor
By Jame DiBiasio
May 22, 2009, 9:54AM EST
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2009/gb20090522_519171.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_global+business
SNIP
Yu [Qiao, an economics professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing] says the establishment and then break up of the gold standard taught the world that prosperity is dependent upon global economic integration; that globalisation in turn is dependent upon a universal money; and that such a currency based on SOVEREIGN FIAT IS UNSTABLE.
The establishment of the Bretton Woods system, based on the dollar, set the stage for globalisation after World War II, and provided the framework for China to integrate and become the world’s manufacturing centre. But the financial crisis has highlighted how fragile globalisation can be. China can no longer be a free rider in this world system, Yu says.
China, Japan and other Asian countries face a dilemma—how to safeguard the real value of their financial assets while helping the world economy recover. Ultimately Asians need to extend their economic boundaries and realise their full growth potential, while addressing the current macroeconomic imbalances

the criterion to determine the location of the GCC Central Bank should be the level of independence (from the US) of the local central bank

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will begin a two-day state visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

Sarkozy’s chief diplomatic advisor Jean-David Levitte praises the UAE’s “wise strategy” to preserve its energy resources by setting up atomic reactors despite boasting the world’s fifth largest energy reserves. (1)

An even wiser strategy for the UAE to preserve its energy resources would be to price them in Khaleeji and/or euro instead of US dollar.

But it is the dollar and its regime which are nevertheless determining whether Gulf Monetary Union will come into being, says The National in Abu Dhabi.

In all probability, the unified currency is dead, and it is doubtful any of the remaining members of the project will wish to pursue this vigorously. Instead, they might adopt a wait-and-see policy: to JUDGE THE DOLLAR’S POSITION over the coming years and how the international financial crisis will work out in terms of global financial and economic power. This might have something to say about what a common Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) currency should be pegged to. (2)

It is unthinkable that the Khaleeji, the GCC single currency, will be freely floating with its gold and oil reserves in the background.

Indeed, now is no time to debate the dollar peg, says The National. (3)

Wrong, now is the time to question the dollar peg and let the Khaleeji freely float with the GCC oil and gold reserves also freely floating in the background.

Now is also the time to start invoicing energy in Khaleeji and/or euro.

As long as the dollar regime continues to control or dominate GCC Monetary Union, we shall not grasp that the criterion to determine the location of the GCC Central Bank should be the level of independence (since the eruption of the global financial turmoil) of the local central bank.  (4)

A bon entendeur, Salut!

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
France president to visit UAE
WAM
Published: May 23, 2009, 23:50
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Government/10316312.html

(2)
Monetary union does not have to be all about the money
Dr Mohamed A Ramady
Last Updated: May 23. 2009 6:33PM UAE / May 23. 2009 2:33PM GMT
The GCC monetary union is dead. And long live monetary union
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090523/BUSINESS/705239929/1058&template=columnists

(3)
Now is no time to debate the dollar peg
Ute Harnischfeger
Last Updated: May 23. 2009 7:22PM UAE / May 23. 2009 3:22PM GMT
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090523/BUSINESS/705239921/1137
SNIP
n 2007 and into 2008, many had argued for the dirham’s decoupling from the dollar as it weakened and sparked inflation in economies with currencies pegged to it. “But then it strengthened again and everybody forgot that it was highly volatile,” says Mr Six.

(4)
Qatar to host Gulf Central Bank
Posted by Ivo Cerckel on May 5th, 2009
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/2009/05/05/doha-to-host-gulf-central-bank/

Poolse president waarschuwt voor euro
zaterdag 23 mei 2009
http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/buitenland/Poolse_president_waarschuwt_voor_euro.8186938-439.art
In een zeldzame toespraak voor het Poolse parlement heeft de eurosceptische president Lech Kaczynski donderdag gewaarschuwd voor het invoeren van de euro.
UITREKSEL
(belga) – De economische groei zal vertragen of geheel stilvallen, en dat terwijl de effecten van de economische crisis “zeer ernstig” kunnen zijn, zei Kaczynski tijdens de eerste presidentiële speech in zijn soort in meer dan tien jaar.
EINDE UITREKSEL

Zoals Professor Roger Blanpain het stelt op p. 206 van zijn Memoires “Wat kan ik voor u doen?”  (Brugge, Vanden Broele 2008):
Ons land kampt met een tekort aan werknemers, vooral in een aantal knelpuntberoepen. [...] In heel wat sectoren [kunnen] Poolse werknemers onze bedrijven nuttige diensten bewijzen. Maar bezeten door het spookbeeld van de Poolse loodgieter kwamen er [na de toetreding in 2004 van Polen tot de Europese Unie] beperkingen op het vrij verkeer van werknemers binnen de EU. De vakbonden waren vragende partij om de Polen buiten te houden. EINDE CITAAT

Is het dan verwonderlijk dat sommige Polen eurosceptisch zijn?

Voor het dollar-regime valt dit natuurlijk goed uit.

Een politieke marionet kan dan de politiek onverantwoordelijken (graaiers) van de Crisis de hand boven het hoofd houden.

We moeten ons uit de Crisis trekken door meer van hetzelfde waarmee we in de Crisis geraakt zijn. Dus zeker geen sterke euro waar je moet voor “werken” om die te verdienen.

Dit heet dan nog steeds ” Nivelleren naar Onder ” !

Al deze politieke schijn-Wilhelm Tell-marionetten die zwakte/zwakken willen ondersteunen zijn verwerpelijk en laakbaar.

De marionetten worden bediend door het dollar-regime met haar dollar-systeem.

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

Update 1 added report by The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi

Update 2 adds Gulf News editoral

GCC Monetary Union to be rethought as GCC needing FreeGold

In an interview with Dubai TV on its the Gulf Economy programme aired on Friday evening, Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, the United Arab Emirates Central Bank Governor, clarified that the UAE had [some fundamental] reservations and other minor ones regarding the union, such as marginalising the currency agreement cased on the International Monetary Fund, Special Drawing Rights, reports WAM, the Emirates News Agency. (1)

He also said that the UAE had additional remarks concerning the Gulf Monetary Union as a result of the absence of a unified inflation index, and the condition of covering the currency reserve from imports. (1)
The National phrases this as follows:
The lack of a unified inflation rating system and the provision relating to a four-month currency reserves for imports, which failed to differ between imports destined for re-export and the imports for consumption, were also among the concerns raised. (2)

Another UAE reservation entailed the role of the Gulf Monetary Council which was limited to conducting studies while it should have had a role in the monetary policy and other practical aspects, added Al Suwaidi, says WAM. (1)

Ivo:
The UAE Central Bank does not like the IMF’s SDRs.

The UAE Central Bank does not like currency reserves to be covered only with paper currency.

The UAE Central Bank wants the Gulf Monetary Council to mark the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) gold, hiding in oil, reserves to market on a regular basis?

In an editorial under the title “UAE withdrawal from monetary union is justified”, Gulf News is arguing this Saturday morning
that the [plain] fact is that it will be hard for the GCC common currency to continue without the UAE, since the country is too big to ignore
and
that the UAE’s decision to withdraw from the monetary union should force a re-think on the four nations which are still committed to the Gulf currency. (3)

Gulf News is correct.

The GCC does not need a GCC common currency.

The GCC needs FreeGold.

That’s how GCC Monetary Union should be rethought.

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
Decision on Gulf central bank was political, says Suwaidi
WAM – Emirates News Agency – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Published: May 22, 2009, 23:39
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Banking_and_Finance/10316174.html

(2)
GCC bank decision ‘political’
The National staff
Last Updated: May 23. 2009 3:06AM UAE / May 22. 2009 11:06PM GM
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090523/NATIONAL/905239995/1005/BUSINESS

(3)
UAE withdrawal from monetary union is justified
Gulf News
Published: May 21, 2009, 23:15
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/business/10315801.html

exorbitant interest rates on personal loans

United Arab Emirates Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said on Thursday that there will be no change in the UAE  monetary policy and that the dirham will remain pegged to the dollar. (1)

Despite the UAE Central Bank thus more or less following interest rate cuts by the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, the UAE Central Bank is considering changing interest rates on personal loans, upwards I suppose, thereby leaving many potential borrowers facing huge costs relating to their borrowing.  (2)

As a result of the credit crunch many people now find it difficult to get affordable unsecured personal loans, with banks having to increase their rates to make up for the losses incurred as a result of higher inter-bank lending costs.

That’s the result of the dollar peg …

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
UAE has most suitable financial infrastructure in region: Al Mansouri
Gulf News
Friday, May 22, 2009
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidGN_22052009_10315854/UAE%20has%20most%20suitable%20financial%20infrastructure%20in%20region%3A%20Al%20Mansouri

(2)
UAE: Central Bank mulls changing interest rates on personal loans
Emirates Business 24/7
22 May 2009
http://ae.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090522064629

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) might rethink its decision to pull out of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) monetary union, if the body reconsiders the decision on the GCC central bank (GCB) in favour of Abu Dhabi, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy told the media on Thursday. (1)

The UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi says there will be no change in the UAE’s monetary policy and that the dirham will remain pegged to the dollar (2)

Does Sultan Al Suwaidi mean that if Abu Dhabi can “have” the GCB, the dirham will be unpegged from the  dollar?

Khalfan Saeed Al Ka’abi, chairman of the UAE Economic Centre, told the WAM news agency in a statement: “UAE’s decision not to join the GCC Monetary Union is based on [...] how it serves the UAE’s economic and monetary interests, especially under the current global financial crisis.” (3)

Right,
as long as money is being considered to be an irredeemable, or at least unbacked by gold hiding in oil, piece of paper
and as long as banks are nor criminally prosecuted for conducting business on a fractional-reserve basis,
the current global financial crisis can never be solved.
By staying within the deficit-displaying dollar regime, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain will have to continue inflating and devaluing vis-à-vis gold and oil.

Their central and not-so-central banks will thus have continue creating money out of thin air … precisely in order to fill the deficit.

Despite all the monetary union and fight against riba (usury) rhetoric, this is the simplest way for the divided GCC.

The problem is that this not a way out of the crisis, but a way to reinforce its (the crisis’) effects.

In the meantime, China will be able to establish its yuan as dollar alternative.

This will then allow public opinion to label China as the bad guy, to label China as the anti-dollar guy.

Therefore, it is in the UAE’s economic and monetary interests, especially under the current global financial crisis, to immediately unpeg the dirham from the dollar.

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
UAE decision to withdraw can still be reconsidered, says minister
Gulf News
Friday, May 22, 2009
Gulf News
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidGN_22052009_10315909/UAE%20decision%20to%20withdraw%20can%20still%20be%20reconsidered%2C%20says%20minister

(2)
UAE has most suitable financial infrastructure in region: Al Mansouri
Gulf News
Friday, May 22, 2009
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidGN_22052009_10315854/UAE%20has%20most%20suitable%20financial%20infrastructure%20in%20region%3A%20Al%20Mansouri

(3)
‘Union without UAE, Oman may not help integration’
Gulf News
Friday, May 22, 2009
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidGN_22052009_10315825

Gulf monetary union not doomed, says Qatari analyst
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090521055337
SNIP
21 May 2009
DOHA: An Analyst here [doesn't] see the proposed Gulf common currency being doomed because of the decision of the UAE to withdraw from the regional monetary union.
+
“It’s a stupid reason to withdraw. The UAE should have seen its own benefit in the regional economy becoming stronger due to a common currency,” said financial analyst, Dr Nasser Al Shafi.  UNSNIP

Dollar Is Dirt, Treasuries Are Toast, AAA Is Gone: Mark Gilbert
Commentary by Mark Gilbert
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aKOzWiTDseUE&refer=home
SNIP
May 21 (Bloomberg) — The odds on the dollar, Treasury bonds and the U.S. government’s AAA grade all heading for the dumpster are shortening.  UNSNIP

And the psycho-analyst wants the Gulf Single Currency to be pegged to the dollar?

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

no issuing bank can withstand temptation to print more receipts than it has gold in reserve

by staying within deficit-displaying dollar-regime,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain to continue inflating
and to continue perpetuating riba, usury

China to be labeled bad guy

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s surprise decision to pull out of a EU-style Gulf Monetary Union (GMU) planned by regional oil producers is
NOT, as some (1) argue, an expression of the country’s unhappiness at not being chosen to host the Central Bank of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) which also includes Oman.

BUT it is a first step towards repealing central banking and returning to the banks the right to issue receipts for part of the gold, hiding in oil, they are holding in reserve.

Gold, hiding in oil, will thereby become a freely floating financial-wealth-reserve.

The value of those receipts or certificates for part of the gold held in reserve will then increase to the extent that the ounces, kilograms, or tonnes of gold held in reserve by the issuing bank increase.

The main rationale behind the UAE thinking is of course the other way around. No gold, hiding in oil, backed system can change human nature which dictates that no issuing bank can withstand the temptation to print more receipts than it has gold in reserve.

After the UAEs decision to withdraw from GMU, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain are still committed to the GMU plan, Kuwait’s finance minister told Reuters. (2)

By staying within the deficit-displaying dollar regime, those four GCC members will have to continue inflating and devaluing vis-à-vis gold and oil.

Despite all the monetary union and fight against riba (3) rhetoric, this is the simplest way for the divided GCC.

In the meantime, China will be able to establish its yuan as dollar alternative.

This will then allow public opinion to label China as the bad guy, to label China as the anti-dollar guy.

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(1)
see for example
UAE pull-out seen as ‘unhappiness over bank HQ’
Emirates Business 24/7
21 May 2009
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090521031643

(2)
Four GCC states committed to monetary union
21/May/2009
Trade Arabia
http://www.gulfbase.com/site/interface/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?n=97398
SNIP
Kuwait and three other Gulf countries are still committed to the Gulf monetary union plan, Kuwaits finance minister told Reuters after the UAE said it was withdrawing from the project.

(3)
Arabian FreeGold
Posted by Ivo Cerckel on May 17th, 2009
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/2009/05/17/arabian-freegold/
If the link does not work, try to copy it and to paste it in your browser.
SNIP
Is riba, usury, the result of paper money?
Or is riba the result of money linked to gold (hiding in oil)?
Do gold and oil bear interest?
In order to achieve a riba-free system, we need FreeGold, freely floating gold prices.
It is therefore the GCC oil producers who would  gain most from the repeal of paper gold and institution of FreeGold.
But they remain silent…

US Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, China and Brazil show the way

repeal central banking
&
return right to issue receipts for gold to banks

China isn’t just talking about supplanting the dollar as the centre of the international monetary system. It is taking concrete steps away from the greenback for both finance and trade. The Financial Times reports China and Brazil have discussed using their own currencies for trade, a marked shift away from the use of dollars, the norm for the conduct of international trade. (01)

Brazil and China eye a plan to axe the dollar (02)
&
move towards a New Economic Order. (03)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided on Wednesday 20 May 2009 not to be part of the Gulf monetary union and informed the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) secretariat about its move to withdraw, an official source at the UAE’s foreign ministry said yesterday in a statement carried by the national Wam news agency. [...]
Wam cited UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi as saying the country’s monetary policy will proceed with no changes and the UAE dirham will remain linked to the US dollar. (04)

Dr Emilie Rutledge writes however in Gulf News newspaper that
for the UAE, the utility of its dollar peg is likely once again to resurface, for it is no longer a requirement of the GCC integration process. A move to a trade-weighted basket peg, à la Kuwait, would perhaps better serve the UAE’s economy, says Dr Rutledge. (05)

K.T. Abdurabb writes in Arab News newspaper that some policymakers hoped the Gulf single currency would eventually be freely floated globally (06), just as in Arabian FreeGold.

China is preparing for a world where the yuan or renminbi (remnimbi?) trumps the dollar. (07)

According to a report, China’s gold reserves may indeed back the internationalisation of the yuan. (08)

As the UAE is now pulling out of Gulf monetary union project, it is useful to remember that
banks used to have the right to issue receipts for the gold, hiding in oil, they held in reserve. This right was taken away from them by the institution of central banks. (09)

This blogger proposes to repeal central banking and return the right to issue receipts for part of the gold, hiding in oil, they are holding in reserve to the banks.

This blogger proposes to have gold, hiding in oil, as a freely floating financial-wealth-reserve.

Let’s have central banking repealed and banks to be allowed again to issue certificates for some of the gold, hiding in oil, they hold in reserve and let’s have the value of these certificates to increase to the extent that the ounces, kilograms, or tonnes of gold held in reserve by the issuing bank increase. (10) (11)

Audit the central banks, then repeal them, says US Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. (12)

That’s the way to Arabian FreeGold

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

NOTES

(01)
TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2009
UP AND DOWN WALL STREET DAILY
New Dilemma for the Dollar
By RANDALL W. FORSYTH   | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR
Greenback’s status challenged for trade as well as financial transactions.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB124265993572930691.html

(02)
Brazil and China eye plan to axe dollar
By Jonathan Wheatley in São Paulo
Published: May 18 2009 18:24 | Last updated: May 18 2009 23:31
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/996b1af8-43ce-11de-a9be-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
SNIP
Brazil and China will work towards using their own currencies in trade transactions rather than the US dollar, according to Brazil’s central bank and aides to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president.

(03)
Brazil and China: Moves Towards a New Economic order?
Rachel Ziemba | May 18, 2009
http://www.rgemonitor.com/latam-monitor/256788/brazil_and_china_moves_towards_a_new_economic_order
SNIP
Brazilian President Lula is the latest world leader (after Wen Jiabao and  Vladimir Putin) to call for moving away from the US dollar in trade and and for a new monetary and financial order. On the eve of his trip to China this week, Lula suggested in an interview with Caijing (and other news sources) that the two countries should conduct more of their trade in their own currencies rather than the US dollar.

(04)
UAE exit casts doubt on common currency
Latest Update: Thursday21/5/2009May, 2009, 01:13 AM Doha Time
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=292104&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

(05)
Time to rethink dollar peg
By Emilie Rutledge, Special to Gulf News
Published: May 20, 2009, 22:39
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Comment_and_Analysis/10315573.html

(06)
UAE not to join GCC monetary union
K.T. Abdurabb | Arab News
Thursday 21 May 2009 (26 Jumada al-Ula 1430)
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=24&section=0&article=122746&d=21&m=5&y=2009
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has decided not to join the planned GCC monetary union, official news agency WAM reported yesterday quoting a Foreign Ministry official.
+
The UAE has officially notified the GCC secretariat of its decision to pull out of the planned Gulf monetary blSaudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, have tried for almost a decade to negotiate a single currency that some policymakers hoped would eventually be freely floated globally.

(07)
China is preparing for a world where the yuan trumps the dollar
Do you know what a yuan looks like? If not, you had better find out.
By Jim O’Neill
Last Updated: 6:18PM BST 20 May 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/5356509/China-is-preparing-for-a-world-where-the-yuan-trumps-the-dollar.html

(08)
China Gold Reserves May Back Yuan Internationalization-Report
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090517-704461.html
By Dow Jones Newswires
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, May 18, 2009

(09)
Roland Leuschel and Claus Vogt, “Das Greenspan Dossier, Wie die US-Notenbank das Weltwährungssystem gefährdet. Oder: Inflation um jeden Preis”, www.finanzbuchverlag.de, 2006, 3rd ed., p. 299

(10)
Gold as default reserve
Posted by Ivo Cerckel on May 9th, 2009
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/2009/05/09/gold-as-default-reserve/
If the link does not work, try to copy it and to paste it in your browser.

(11)
The main rationale behind this proposal is of course the other way around. No gold or silver backed system can change human nature which dictates that no issuing bank can withstand the temptation to print more receipts that it has gold in reserve.
(Roland Leuschel and Claus Vogt, op. cit., pp. 299- 300)
This means that to the extent more receipts are issued than gold is held in reserve, the value of the currency decreases.

(12)
May 18, 2009: Audit the Fed, Then End It!
http://www.house.gov/paul/