Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions
<i>sigh</i><p>Fifty years ago, the dollar had value because America was the one-stop-shop for everything. Cars, electronics, appliances, all of it.<p>Nowadays, that's China. China makes everything, or the parts to make everything, and increasingly to a higher standard than can be produced in the US. Go watch Project Farm and think on those results.<p>The dollar has value now because it functions as a medium of exchange. That's it. The machinery of international purchasing and banking works in dollars, but that's not a <i>given</i>.<p>Kicking Russia out of SWIFT undermines that entire system. Doesn't matter if it's expedient or warranted or if you just really fucking hate Ivan. It is now very clear to every single bank on the planet that the USG is willing to use commercial entities as a weapon against your country. Not just banks, either: technology companies, medical suppliers, all the rest.<p>That has very real long-term consequences, and I wouldn't be surprised if China and Russia jointly rolled out a competing standard within the next decade. The combination of "you're using this if you want to buy from us" and "can you really trust the Americans?" is not going to have good consequences for the USD.