The Dollar, Bad Money, Oil, "Distribution Value" & The Sword

"For some years now, the Russian government has been trying to raise 
the exchange rate of Russian paper money?which it is lowering in 
Russia by the continuous emission of irredeemable banknotes?by the 
equally continuous buying up in London of bills of exchange on 
Russia"

This sounds vaguely familiar, a bit like US government treasury 
bills and bonds 

"It has had to pay for this pleasure in the last few years almost 
sixty million rubles, and the ruble now stands at under two marks 
instead of over three. If the sword has the magic economic powers 
ascribed to it by Herr Dühring, why is it that no government has 
succeeded in permanently compelling bad money to have the 
distribution value of good money, or assignats ( French paper money) 
to have the distribution value of gold? And where is the sword which 
is in command of the world market?"

Bombing the hell out of Lebanon I suspect. 


Anti-Dühring by Frederick Engels 1877
Part II: Political Economy

V. Theory of Value