Gold will soar as China seeks US dollar alternatives

‘Nuclear’ sanctions on Russia threaten long-term dollar dominance as China has more geopolitical incentive to ditch the greenback

(March 2nd, 2022 - David P. Goldman)

China likely sees a golden opportunity in shifting away from the US dollar.

China is looking for alternatives to the US dollar as a reserve currency after Western nations froze the foreign assets of Russia’s central bank last week, former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff told media on March 1.

The seizure of Russian sovereign assets has no precedent in postwar history, and sets a precedent for similar action against China in the event of hostilities over Taiwan.

“It's an absolutely radical measure to try to freeze assets at a major central bank. It's a break-the-glass moment,” said Rogoff, now a professor at Harvard University.

“It's a major thing,” Rogoff added. “I mean, if you want to look at the long-run picture of dollar dominance in the global economy, believe me, China's looking at this. They have, I don't know, US$3 trillion in dollar reserves.