Navigating
the Falling Dollar and the Shift to Sustainability
-- The Conversation Continues
Last week I gave a lecture and workshop in Ashland, Oregon to a wonderful group
of people focused on opportunities to accelerate a shift in our time, our attention
and our transactions to support a free and sustainable culture. What a wonderful time
we had! At the workshop, everyone divided up into teams. Our challenge? We were a
homeless family of 4 people with a $1million in cash. Where would we live? How would
we allocate our time and money? Where would we find allies and how would we organize?
And if we invested our money in a financially intimate manner, with more investment
going local, how would we understand and reengineer government money to shift with
us? And what if we had no money to invest? How would our farm or business attract
those who wanted to invest in their own community to create new jobs?
Meantime, a quick look at the recent doings of the Tapeworm confirmed the importance
of emerging solutions from our conversations. According to the Sydney Morning Herald,
"the Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has called on East Asia's central bankers
to "telegraph" their intentions to diversify out of American investments
and ensure an orderly adjustment. Central banks in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea
and Hong Kong have channelled immense foreign reserves into American government bonds,
helping to prop up the US dollar and hold down American interest rates. Mr Costello
said "the strategy had changed" and Chinese central bankers were now looking
for alternative investments. "Of course you can have an orderly adjustment,"
he told reporters. "And what I would recommend is that these matters be telegraphed
well in advance. I think we should begin preparing ourselves for it." Mr Costello
said the "re-emergence" of China as the world's greatest economy "is
not something to be feared".
While I did not find a response from the US government, the Latin America press
has alleged that George W. Bush purchased a 98,000 acre ranch in Paraguay. Now why
would he do that?
Next week, our conversation will continue on Salt Spring
Island in British Columbia. If you are in the area, please come and join us. There’s
no sense losing time watching the Tapeworm when we could be building a new and beautiful
world!
-- Catherine Austin Fitts |
