I agree with Gerald Faulhaber. There are not too many people who know or care about who dominates the oil market. If people knew, maybe something could be done about lives spent on a meaningless cause in Iraq. The exchange rate is still favorable to the dollar. Maybe it will be for some time. British, Australian, some Baltic and Spanish leaders seem to think so. If Gerald is waiting for a coherent explanation as to why we are in this mess, good luck. But it seems that economics plays an important role. He offers no credible rebuttal to the argument presented.

"nobody cares about how oil trade is denominated, not in a world of complete and efficient FX (foreign exchange) markets", he says. Tell that to France and Germany. Why do you think that France will trade with Iraq? And not for American bucks either. No, the silliness is assuming that the bill of goods that the Bush Administration is trying to sell us is believable. Remember the Bush's did business in Odessa Texas and there's a lot of oil down there. One could refer to this Administration as oleaginous in more ways than one.

Frank Hamilton