• Just weeks earlier, Brazil traded in a their national currency with Beijing.
• Lula spoke Thursday at the New Development Bank (NDB), which serves as the Shanghai-based financial institution of the informal BRICS coalition.

Fundamentally, it boils down to two things: money and politics.

• On the economic end of the equation, being tied to the U.S. dollar costs nations money—conversion fees takes a toll, especially when trade is being conducted in large volumes.
• Politically, Washington’s strategy of leveraging its economic weight to punish undesirable policies adopted by countries around the world has accelerated the desire to move away from the dollar.

Continue reading here.