| − | The petrodollar system became essentially a protection racket for oil-producing countries in the [[Middle East]] aligned with the [[US]], such as [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Kuwait]], the [[United Arab Emirates]] (UAE), [[Bahrain]], and [[Qatar]]. The US [[military]] supposedly granted "[[security guarantee]]s" to these countries in exchange for their agreement to denominate oil sales in [[US dollar]]s and recycle the dollars into the [[US Treasury]] [[market]] to finance the US [[federal government]] [[budget deficit]], thereby creating [[demand]] for the US dollar outside the [[United States]] and helping keep [[interest rate]]s lower than they otherwise would be. | + | The petrodollar system became essentially a protection racket for oil-producing countries in the [[Middle East]] aligned with the [[US]], such as [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Kuwait]], the [[United Arab Emirates]] (UAE), [[Bahrain]], and [[Qatar]]. The US [[military]] supposedly granted "[[security guarantee]]s" to these countries in exchange for their agreement to denominate oil sales in [[US dollar]]s and recycle the dollars into the [[US Treasury]] [[market]] to finance the US [[federal government]] [[budget deficit]], thereby creating [[demand]] for the US dollar abroad and keeping [[interest rate]]s lower than they otherwise would be. |
| | Any country that needed Persian Gulf oil needed US dollars to buy the oil. [[Congress]] constantly looked for any excuse to inflate the US monetary base to [[export]] dollars to meet global demand for dollars. | | Any country that needed Persian Gulf oil needed US dollars to buy the oil. [[Congress]] constantly looked for any excuse to inflate the US monetary base to [[export]] dollars to meet global demand for dollars. |