Selling oil is one thing. Getting paid in something you can use is another. A country can run a trade surplus and still find itself holding another government's debt, a depreciating currency or reserves vulnerable to sanctions.
In this conversation with Kathleen Tyson at the David Graeber Institute, Michael Hudson examines the practical problems behind de-dollarization. Gold offers an asset that is nobody else's debt, but it cannot by itself provide the credit and payment arrangements needed to keep international trade moving.