It used to be that Greenspan's "fedspeak" moved the world's currency and investment markets.

No longer.

The baton has passed, and it has passed to none other than (I wish I could do a better parody of a French accent in writing) "Muhsieur Jean-Claude Trichet."

What did we just witness last week? "Muhsieur Trichet" has wagged his tongue, just a little bit. He has wrapped his Gallic tongue around some French-accentuated words, and has just changed one word from his previous comment that yielded zero results only days earlier. He stated his preference that currency moves should not be so "brutahl." That's all he did - and, Whammo! The dollar soared, the euro dropped, and gold and its shares took a weeklong nosedive.

Now, that is power.

It underscores an impression that was left by a Newsweek report back in 2000 or 2001. The impression: it's not presidents and prime ministers that move the world, but central bankers. The report showed a series of photos depicting the "honorable" Chairman Greenspan shaking the hands of four presidents, from Reagan in 1987 to Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, and now Bush Jr. - a span of sixteen years.

Now tell me: who has had the real reigns of power in his hands? Who has more consistently, more continuously, and more steadfastly nibbled at the fountainhead of US economic power? Who truly had the most lasting and profound effect on the direction of this nation? Is it the President, or is it the central banker? This country should be renamed to more properly reflect the identity of its true master. It should be called the "United States of the Fed."

But that was then. This is now.

Last week, one carefully chosen word from across the Atlantic has served to stem the euro's advance, and has pulled the dollar back from its precipice. And that word did not emanate from the thin-lipped mouth of Mr. Al "Magoo" Greenspan. That word was uttered with a French accent from the ECB's Tower of Power in the city of Frankfurt in the former Republic of Germany.

Whatever the ultimate fate of the dollar will be, it already lies in the hands of foreigners. It is no longer up to Americans. It is no longer in the power of the Federal Reserve or the US government to reverse the fall of the dollar.

We all should ponder the implications of this.

Oh, you say that the US was "just fine" with the dollar's fall? And that is so because now, with the lower dollar, US exporters have a better chance? If you mean that not being able to do anything about it is the same as being "just fine" with impending doom, then okay, you got a point.

Certainly, it was not "just fine" with the US elites to have oil jump to $35 a barrel and have OPEC threaten to "go euro" after Russia had already done so and escaped Saddam's fate.

Certainly it was not "fine" with the US administration to have China dump its super-cheap products over here by pegging their currency low to the dollar so that, no matter how low the dollar sank, Chinese goods were still cheaper for US consumers to buy, thus keeping the US trade deficit as high as ever.

Certainly it wasn't just "fine" with Bush that the Chinese ignored every wimpy plea he made to them to let their currency float while threatening to nuke LA if he should interfere with their ongoing efforts to swallow Taiwan.

And certainly, it wasn't "fine" with him when he knew they literally had him by the balls when he felt compelled to publicly strafe Taiwan during the Chinese dictator's recent visit here for trying to assert its independence.

While Bush Junior is openly selling this country's sovereignty to the lowest bidder from Mexico, Al Magoo has made sure that the future of the US dollar passed from American to European hands.

All of this is being done in line with BIS boardroom edicts from Basel. These edicts reflect concepts first conceived by another American by the name of Robert Mundell. According to him, the issuer of the world's dominant reserve currency must first lose its "veto" power over attempts to set up a truly global money system before such a system can in fact be implemented. [Mundell: The International Monetary System in the 21st Century: Could Gold Make a Comeback?"( p.4, 1997)]

New world order, here we come! And the United States can no longer stand in its way.

Beside the transfer of world monetary power across the Atlantic, there is another "passing of the baton" that has taken place in our lifetime. The reigns of power were also transferred from the arena of elected bribe-takers (politicians) to unelected bribe-makers (dwellers in the boardrooms of the world's top corporations, international banks, and central banks.)

The bogeyman of "world government" has lost its emotional sting, because efforts to "unify" the world in the political arena had to be toned down (too much public resistance) and have given way to efforts to first equalize and solidify the financial systems of the world. The new keyword, much less offensive and more benign-sounding, more politically correct, is "global governance." "Global governance" always implies corporate action versus political action.

Now, how does all of this impact gold and precious metals?

Gold is the "weapon" used to weaken the dollar (and US) to the point where it can no longer stand up to the currency schemes of the world planners.

Although the Fed has, of course, been set up and run under NWO precepts from the beginning, the advantage of being allowed to issue the world's reserve currency has just been too much for one lone country to stomach. The politician's power lust took over, and "narrow minded" national interest took shape over time that, in combination with Americans' natural independence, caused the US to veer away from its "intended" path. (Thank God!)

That was "tolerated" during the next few decades. (What else were they going to do? How do you tell the world's biggest, baddest kid on the block to "shut up and get back in line?") Meanwhile, a "worthy foe" (the USSR) was built up to keep the US if not totally in line, then at least busy fighting the new threat.

All the while, a new world financial order was secretly being shaped behind the closed doors of corporate boardrooms across the globe, directed from Basel, Switzerland, the seat of the Bank for International Settlements, also known as the "central bank for central bankers."

With the minds of the US population firmly fixed on the distraction of fighting a new mortal foe - international communism - a new international corporate financial infrastructure was being planned, implemented, and refined. This new system would eventually take the world from a multi-currency system dominated by the dollar to a single global currency via the detour of individual "optimum currency areas." Once you have a common currency, political unification is not far behind.

The first eaxmple for this, EMU, is now viable - and obviously powerful - reality.

The next step is to give the already horrendously debased but still mighty US currency an incapacitating, but not yet deadly blow. That blow is designed to strip it of its "veto power" while laying the foundation for a new Asian currency union. In the meantime, efforts are underway to build an American currency bloc via the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) - thanks to Bush.

In the past, it was thought that the Asian area would be run under the leadership of the Japanese Yen - but no longer. China, with its tongue-breaker currency, the "renminbi" has now been anointed to the leadership position. Then, under a tripartite currency system in which the inhabitants of huge swaths of world real estate (formerly known as "countries") have already become used to common currencies, the switch to a unified world super-currency will be rather easy, it is hoped.

Here is one example from one so-called "thought leader" (Robert Shiller) that gives us a glimpse of what such a global system might look like. The following is an excerpt from Publishers Weekly's review of Shiller's new book, "The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century":

According to Shiller, governments should swap 10% or more of their gross domestic product with other countries and administer income swaps among entire generations. Individuals should manage risk by trading in new financial instruments based on the lifetime income of their profession, the value of homes in their area or economic statistics like the unemployment rate or inflation rate. Money, he says, will be replaced by "indexed units of account" tied to things like wage rates and commodity prices. People will carry transponders to report on their every activity, with the results stored in "global risk information databases," containing all personal information, including genetic data but protected against unauthorized access. In this way, the government can eliminate the underground economy and tax evasion and individuals will enjoy more economic security. The author admits people don't think they want this additional security, but he advocates "psychological framing" to change their viewpoint.

I don't really need to comment on this do I? This is what's in the works for us, folks - if you let it happen to you. Don't think for a moment that this cannot happen. American leaders used to think that about the euro - and look what happened!

Mundell at least sees some role for gold, however undefined. Shiller wants to use - of all things - derivatives and income swaps to "manage the risks" associated with daily living. In other words, there will be no more decisions left to be made by you . Papa State is taking care of all your needs. Just don't worry your little pumpkin head over things like picking the wrong profession, buying a home in a depreciating neighborhood, or losing your job. (Naturally, you also won't be able to benefit from your good judgment in picking the right profession, buying a home in an appreciating neighborhood, or finding a job on your own. One will be assigned to you!)

I suppose Shiller will also advocate derivatives to hedge against the risks of electing stupid politicians (or the risk of listening to pro-totalitarian authors on how to screw up our monetary system). Oh, and by the way, he wants to criminalize the use of all forms of cash - including gold, of course. Are you ready to be "psychologically framed" to have your viewpoint changed by official edict? Just do nothing, and it will happen to you.

Meanwhile, the world is moving toward gold and away from a pure fiat system that relies on fighting gold for its viability. Europe's floating gold-price reserve valuation and the Washington Accord, China's gold market liberalization, and the Muslim gold dinar are the first definite, visible markers along this path.

[Here is a little tidbit on the gold dinar, by the way, fresh off the press, from Reuters: http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2004/01/18/rtr1216007.html (Malaysia's Mahatir told Saudis to demand gold for their oil instead of dollars - not even euros.]

That trend means of course that gold is going higher, at least in the interim.

Intermittent, self-inflicted tongue-lashings like the one administered to the euro by "Muhsieur Trichet " just show that this process is progressing as planned. It shows that the fall of the dollar away from world-dominance is being "managed" - just like every decision you could possibly ever take in your lifetime will eventually be "managed." If you will ever make an unapproved decision, get ready for having your viewpoint brought back into line by psychological framing - brainwashing.

Sounds enticing, doesn't it?

In the meantime, save your gold, and buy lots of silver. You will need it soon for, despite all appearances, the NWO crowd's progress is not uniform. It is not without internal friction and competition between power circles. The movement is not as all-powerful as its proponents would like you to believe. Global breakdowns and long times of "adjustments" are in the cards. During days like those, precious metals are indispensable to economic survival. And there is no point in just giving in because of "well, what can I do about it?"concerns.

While the Shillers of the world are proposing an all-enveloping, life-strangling, socialist system of total surveillance on a global basis, the Mahatirs of the world are throwing monkey wrenches into the new order's grinding gears.

In the meantime, all currencies will depreciate against each other, and precious metals and other commodities will rise, and rise. The dollar will lose power, and your bank (and trading) accounts will be sapped of their strength. The metals will reign supreme - for a while at least.

How long that "while" lasts is up to you.

Got gold?