China: Ditch the Dollar as World Standard

Highlighting international anger over the sorry state of the US economy, China has called for the dollar to be dumped as the global currency standard, the Wall Street Journal reports. China’s central bank said an International Monetary Fund asset could take over the dollar’s global role, Reuters reports. Russia issued a similar call earlier this month ahead of the G-20 summit next week.

China’s wish won’t likely come true quickly, the Journal notes. The world’s national banks are stocked with more dollars than any other single currency; governments can go to the US currency to stabilize their own. But the proposal, alongside recent comments from China’s premier, seems to be “a warning to the US that it can't expect China to finance its spending indefinitely,” writes Andrew Batson. (More China stories.)