In his first visit to China since taking office at the beginning of this year, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on countries across the globe to ditch the U.S. dollar in favor of trading in a common currency or existing national currencies, something he did in his own trade with Beijing just weeks earlier.
“Every night, I ask myself why all countries are forced to do their trade backed by the dollar?” Lula asked. “Why can’t we do trade backed by our currency?”
Perhaps even more significant than the message Lula delivered was where he delivered it. Lula spoke Thursday at the New Development Bank (NDB), which serves as the Shanghai-based financial institution of the informal BRICS coalition. BRICS, comprised of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, was first devised some 16 years ago as a vehicle for large emerging economies. But the group has taken on a new life in recent…
