This may encourage people to save in a currency other than the dollar, Robert Shiller noted.
ROME, December 25th. /tass/. The US use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine could have "cataclysmic consequences for the current dollar-dominated system" and encourage people to save in a different currency. This opinion was expressed by Robert Shiller, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, professor at Yale University.
"I cannot convince myself that this is the right way. <...> Besides the fact that this will be a confirmation for the Russian leader that what is happening in Ukraine is a "proxy war", it may paradoxically turn against America and the entire West," he said in a statement. an interview with La Repubblica newspaper.
"What kind of signal is being sent to dozens of countries that, like Russia, including, after all, the G7 countries, convert their savings into dollars for the sake of security and entrust them into the reliable hands of Uncle Sam? (Uncle Sam is a personified image of the USA - approx. TASS). If America does this to Russia today, <...> then tomorrow it can do this to anyone," Schiller continued. - This will destroy the halo of security that surrounds the dollar, and will be the first step towards de-dollarization, which many are increasingly leaning towards - from China to developing countries, not to mention Russia itself. Anyone who puts aside savings in foreign currency will be tempted to convert them into yuan or, why not, into euros."
On December 21, The New York Times newspaper, citing American and European officials, reported that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden had begun urgent negotiations with allies on using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. According to them, the United States has "begun urgent negotiations" against the background of the fact that the Senate of Congress cannot approve a new package of assistance to Kiev, and funds are running out. As the newspaper notes, the White House is "quietly signaling" its support for the use of frozen Russian funds. Concerns about the transfer of Russian assets to Kiev, according to the publication, were expressed by Germany, Italy and France. An unnamed European official, whom the newspaper spoke to, explained this by saying that the United States owns only a small share of assets, and "the EU can lose significantly more." According to the publication, European countries propose to pay attention to another plan involving the withdrawal of profits that Euroclear extracts from the storage of Russian assets.
According to La Repubblica, Rome, which will chair the Group of Seven next year, intends to take on the task of coordinating positions on this issue among the allies together with the head of the EU diplomatic service, Josep Borrel.
On May 12, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, said that encroachments on property rights - private, state or corporate - are absolutely unacceptable. In this regard, he said that Russia will defend its interests as far as possible.