They're Destroying the Dollar

By Charles Goyette, author of The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis with Gold, Oil, and Other Unconventional Investments.

All the chatter that accompanied gold hitting new highs this month made it hard not to think of "the gnomes of Zurich."

With that richly evocative image of sinister forces behind the pound sterling's woes, Harold Wilson, the British Labour Party figure (and eventual prime minister) skillfully deflected attention from the British economic policies and policy-makers actually to blame.

Dead Dollar, Buy Gold

The recent account in the British press that Gulf oil states and others are planning to abandon dollar pricing of oil came complete with "secret moves" and "secret meetings."

One prominent talk show host asked me on the air if this was part of a "shadowy conspiracy" against the United States." Politico.com ran a piece headlined, "Whodunit? Sneak attack on U.S. dollar," and reported that government circles were abuzz with whispers that behind it all were gold traders who wanted to tank the dollar.

If there is secretive business afoot, the conspirators are hiding in plain sight. My book, The Dollar Meltdown, also describes the likely development of a basket of currencies and gold's role for global oil pricing. It was printed and being shipped to the nation's book dealers when Robert Fisk's reporting sent the dollar down and gold up.

It's hard to believe anyone could have missed the discussions in OPEC circles about the repricing of petroleum. A year ago, an official of the Gulf Cooperation Council, consisting of six Persian Gulf states, discussed the council's planning for a central bank and gold reserves.