Petrodollars and Paychecks: Navigating the New Global Reality
Global Economics:
I am starting to find geopolitics and history interesting.
This video discusses the "slow death of the petrodollar" and its implications for the global economy. It begins by explaining the secret 1974 deal between the US and Saudi Arabia that established the petrodollar system. This ensured that oil sales worldwide were denominated in US dollars, creating an artificial demand for the dollar and allowing the US to print money to fund its economy and military. Some nations attempted to challenge this system:
- Saddam Hussein's decision to sell Iraqi oil in euros in 2000, which the video suggests was a key factor in the US-led invasion of Iraq.
- Muammar Gaddafi's plan to create a gold-backed pan-African currency (the gold dinar), which the video implies led to NATO's intervention in Libya and Gaddafi's death.
It argues that these events served as warnings, but that the weaponization of finance against Russia in 2022 was a turning point, accelerating de-dollarization efforts by pushing Russia to pivot to a parallel financial system and trade in other currencies.
The video highlights the rise of the "Petroyuan" as China, the world's largest oil importer, seeks to buy oil in its own currency and offers a "gold loophole" for oil producers to convert yuan directly into physical gold. Finally, it discusses Saudi Arabia's recent shift in foreign policy moving closer to China and challenging the 1974 pact, and the growing influence of BRICS nations in creating a multi-polar currency world.
The video concludes by discussing the impact of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), the US's $35 trillion debt trap, the reflux of dollars back into the US, and the record central bank gold buying spree as indicators of the dollar's declining dominance.
It advises viewers on how to prepare for the post-dollar era by investing in gold, Bitcoin, and real assets.
The reality of work.
The "Work" Scam: Why Your $30/Hour Job Pays You $4
The real hourly wage, is a concept popularized by the book "Your Money or Your Life
Your real hourly wage is far less than what you might imagine.
- Hidden Monetary Costs: Beyond taxes , significant expenses include commuting , business attire , "convenience tax" from work-related purchases like lunches and coffee , and "decompression spending" to cope with job stress. These costs drastically reduce net income.
- Shadow Work (Unpaid Time): Many hours are dedicated to a job without being paid for them, such as grooming , commuting , and decompression time after work. When these "shadow hours" are added, the actual time committed to the job can be significantly higher than the reported 40 hours per week.
- The Shocking Truth: When true net income is divided by the actual hours committed, a seemingly $31-an-hour job can plummet to as low as $4 an hour, potentially less than a minimum-wage burger flipper who has fewer associated costs and less shadow work .
- The "Golden Handcuffs" Trap: Promotions offering more money can often lead to even higher associated costs and increased stress, effectively lowering the real hourly wage.
- Lost Opportunity Cost: Money spent on work-related expenses could otherwise be invested and grow significantly over time .
The Art of Spending Money
I had previously reviewed The Art of Spending Money, but just came across a YouTube summary that captured its core ideas far better than my original post. It boils the book down to one powerful insight: a handful of big decisions shape your financial life far more than daily trivia.
The “Big Five” expenses that actually matter:
Housing — Your largest lifetime purchase. Choosing modestly can free up hundreds of thousands over time. I have another blog post that explains how I might move to Florida to help with this. This ties in with moving dollar based retirement stocks into real assets.
Cars — A quiet wealth killer. Endless payments steal future investment growth; longer ownership or buying outright changes everything.
Health & Medical Costs — Complex, unavoidable, and huge. Smart insurance choices, HSAs, prevention, and investing in health itself pay the highest dividends.
Kids & Education — Childcare rivals a second mortgage, and college often follows close behind. Costs vary widely based on choices, from community college and in-state schools to trades.
Lifestyle Inflation — Upgrading everything as income rises slowly drains wealth unless upgrades are intentional and matched with higher saving.
The takeaway: focusing on these major levers beats obsessing over lattes, coupons, or minor subscriptions.
That said, small leaks add up. Today I canceled an ElevenLabs AI speech subscription I used once but let auto-renew at $22/month. If I need my professional voice clone again, I can restart later. The current plan runs until January 21.
Big money decisions first. But also clean up the leaks.
Actionable Resources:
People analytics Remote Jobs: https://www.joepatten.com/people_analytics_jobs
On LinkedIn, I observed a high school classmate of mine, a CEO who manages a global team of 1,200 people liking posts by Erik Partaker. Erik has many free and Inspiring resources at https://ericpartaker.com/resources