Death report exaggerated

Recent talk that China, India and Russia are settling oil purchases in non-dollar denominations has generated speculation that the dollar’s days as the world’s reserve currency are ending. This is nothing new. There were similar discussion during the financial crisis 15 years ago and, more recently, during the cryptocurrency bubble. Now, most measures of dollar valuation suggest continued dollar strength….

China, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia are not in any economic shape to support such a change in the rules-based order. Despite the global economic growth over the last 3 decades, the current order is simply not going to change at the scale necessary to supplant the US dollar and the global order that rests upon its foundation. There are only 3 other economies with some of the qualities that can support a reserve currency: the euro area, Japan and Britain. But none has financial markets with the depth and liquidity to form the backbone of international finance and trade….

A reserve currency needs to be stable and safe, a store of value and a medium of exchange, and widely accepted and trusted. Hence the dominance of the dollar and the euro, and, to a lesser extent, the Japanese yen and the British pound…. The other currencies do not qualify; they are either too small (Switzerland), operate under totalitarian regimes (Russia and China), or allow for protectionism (India)….

(From ‘Why the Dollar Remains the World’s Reserve Currency, and Will Stay That Way’, The Real Economy Blog)