A “petrodollar” carries a certain sense of power. Combine oil, a commodity few have but all need, with the dollar, currency of the world’s most powerful country, and you have a monetary force to reckon with. It is no surprise, therefore, that talk of the replacement of these dollars by a Chinese “petroyuan”, as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran, has prompted a sense of unease about fundamental changes in the balance of economic and political power.China’s currency is slowly becoming a bigger part of the global financial system. Yet for now, it lacks a fundamental aspect of what made the petrodollar so important, and remains far from threatening the US currency’s role as a reserve asset. That is because China’s economic model depends on its own relentless accumulation of dollar assets and it is these “sinodollars”, not any kind of petro-currency, that dominate finance today.
“石油美元”带有某种权力感。石油，一种很少人拥有但所有人都需要的大宗商品；美元，世界最强大国家的货币。二者结合起来，就形成了一种不可忽视的货币力量。难怪有关“石油人民币”——由于美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争的缘故——将取代石油美元的说法会使人们产生不安感，担心manbetx20客户端下载 政治均势即将发生根本改变。