FT. Economic blowback from the GWOT
(global war on terror). Major oil producers have dropped the first shoe
on the dollar (the second shoe is China). They have reduced dollar
exposure from 75% to 61.5% since 9/11. The trend is accelerating due to
fears that assets will be frozen as part of the war on terror. Also,
imports from the EU have grown 14% between 2001 and 2003 while imports
from the US have fallen. “After the re-election of George Bush,
the Middle East started to sell dollars like crazy due to the fears of
assets being frozen.” [John Robb's Weblog]