Well actually, thanks to the petrodollar, we're effectively the world's welfare case. We blink unprecedented amounts of debt into existence and devalue our currency at their expense in the process. If any countries get out of line, we bomb the shit out of them. Ask Saddam or Gaddafi.
The Saudis, and many others, exclusively sell their oil in US dollars and then turn around and spend it on US treasury bills. It's a hell of a system, but unfortunately when it meets its inevitable end, the US economy goes with it, thanks to about 70 years of increasingly obnoxious spending.
Well actually, thanks to the petrodollar, we're effectively the world's welfare case. We blink unprecedented amounts of debt into existence and devalue our currency at their expense in the process. If any countries get out of line, we bomb the shit out of them. Ask Saddam or Gaddafi.
The Saudis, and many others, exclusively sell their oil in US dollars and then turn around and spend it on US treasury bills. It's a hell of a system, but unfortunately when it meets its inevitable end, the US economy goes with it, thanks to about 70 years of increasingly obnoxious spending.