The Collapse of the US Dollar? Riots in the Streets? Not so far fetched: B.R.I.C.S.

[oladub]

Even the article you linked--which appears to be a primer on reserve currency--claims that US Dollars are over 60% of all reserve currencies in the world. It also states that the total amount of reserve currencies increased about 600% from 1995 to 2011. That's an INCREASE, not a decrease, and hardly the enormous sell-off that you claim.

So why the panic there, Chicken Little?

I really don't understand what you're trying to say, or how this somehow affects anyone, or is a problem. The more you post about monetary matters, the more I'm convinced you don't understand money one bit.

By the way, how are those skyrocketing interest rates you've been warning us about?

No one is claiming that the US dollar is no longer the primary reserve currency of the world. No one was claiming a "sell off". What is at issue is the decline of the US dollar as to primary reserve currency as one nation after another sidesteps the use of the US dollar as a reserve currency. Brazil and Australian have both worked out deals with China in the last couple of weeks for instance. as the US becomes less of a player, its power and influence will wain, and its interest rate will go up. The latter will depress the economy. 'Concern' would be a better word choice than 'panic'.

I think that you were also confusing my comment, "Less demand for US dollars internationally will drive those dollars home. A larger domestic supply of dollars chasing after the same amount of goods and services will drive prices up."
with a "sell off" which is different. As fewer nations will be demanding dollars for trade, there is less demand for those dollars so they come home to roost. I think we should expect more foreign takeovers of US business and real estate as a logical way of getting rid of those dollars. More demand for US properties will lead to higher prices [[supply/demand). That isn't all bad although we will lose some control.

In a partial audit of the Federal Reserve a couple of years ago, it was revealed that the Fed had printed and distributed $16T and that some of those trillions had been distributed to foreign banks. That should partially answer your questions about increases and dampening interest rates. Unemployment hitting 12% across the Euro-zone is another reason the dollar is hanging on.

[ghettopalmetto]

No one is claiming that the US dollar is no longer the primary reserve currency of the world. No one was claiming a "sell off". What is at issue is the decline of the US dollar as to primary reserve currency as one nation after another sidesteps the use of the US dollar as a reserve currency. Brazil and Australian have both worked out deals with China in the last couple of weeks for instance. as the US becomes less of a player, its power and influence will wain, and its interest rate will go up. The latter will depress the economy. 'Concern' would be a better word choice than 'panic'.

You've also predicted both runaway inflation and higher interest rates as a result of Federal Reserve policies, neither of which has happened.

Why does American flag-waving trump the sovereignty of foreign states?

[oladub]

You've also predicted both runaway inflation and higher interest rates as a result of Federal Reserve policies, neither of which has happened.

Why does American flag-waving trump the sovereignty of foreign states?

I must have missed my own "flag-waving" remarks. Are you interpreting US self interest, things like economic well being, as "flag-waving"?

Maybe its my imagination but the cost of health insurance, taxes, gasoline, tuna fish, education, and some other things seems to be going up faster than what our government tells
us. A partial explanation is that based on the way the CPI used to be evaluated before 1980, inflation is running at about 8% annually. Higher interest rates and still higher interest rates are coming. Fed money is once again creating a housing and stock market bubble. It has to go somewhere. All bubbles burst. I am not claiming this will happen overnight. It is more like eating and drinking crap usually leads to health problems over time; not necessarily right away. Be patient and hope President Obama will save you. If you believe in Obama, debts, and the Fed's printing press this is definitely an opportune time for you to invest in real estate and stocks. You can even wave some other flag of your choice.

[ghettopalmetto]

I must have missed my own "flag-waving" remarks. Are you interpreting US self interest, things like economic well being, as "flag-waving"?

If our economic well-being depends on whether or not the USD is the preferred reserve currency in the world, then we have bigger problems.

There are 200-some sovereign nations on earth. Most of them do not have a reserve currency, and a good deal of them do just as well, if not better, than the United States.

[MizMotown]

If you're paying $500+ for an iPhone every 6 months, you're doing something horribly wrong.

http://listverse.com/2013/04/02/10-w...igned-to-fail/
10 ways products are designed to fail.

[MizMotown]

f you're paying $500+ for an iPhone every 6 months, you're doing something horribly wrong.

me? ah hell naw... I don't need that crap. For what? I'm happy w/ a dang Trac Phone w/ 60 minutes for 9.99.

[noise]

I'm not sure what you're trying to argue, MizMotown. I'll just repeat:

"If you're paying $500+ for an iPhone every 6 months, you're doing something horribly wrong."

[Zacha341]

Apple hates me... I wait until the launch the latest version of their 'whatever', then I purchase the previous for a third of the price. Or used. I still have a 3GS phone [[relatively new as Apple replaced my previously faulty one with another one just last year) which works as well as you can expect an Iphone to work......

[Papasito]

A $200 LG phone does me just fine
And I only replace it if it breaks.

[Zacha341]

I'm waiting for the 4Gs to go down to $50 after Apple releases the 5Gs [[to fix the bugs with the 5G) and then I will upgrade. I see no rush... or peer pressure for an ultra expensive phone every six months!

[antongast]

OK
No, I can not retreat. Like most Americans, I am enslaved to debt, so I can locked into being stuck like most Americans are. House, Car, Credit Card Debt, Medical Debt, add it up & then some, and most of us are not going anywhere. We are stuck.

You realize that if the dollar became worthless due to hyperinflation, you would no longer be "enslaved to debt," right? Hyperinflation wipes out debt. You would continue to owe however many nominal dollars, but if "dollars" are worthless, then you owe nothing or virtually nothing.

You can be paranoid about being "enslaved to debt," or you can be paranoid about hyperinflation wiping out your savings and any debts that other people owe you, but you can't be paranoid about both at the same time unless you're completely ignorant of basic economic principles.

Look at Germany - when Hitler took power, a loaf of bread was about 1 Mark. By the time he was done, it was 300. Great societies have risen and fallen, it's the nature of things.

Uh, do you have a source for this?

[Gistok]

Look at Germany - when Hitler took power, a loaf of bread was about 1 Mark. By the time he was done, it was 300. Great societies have risen and fallen, it's the nature of things.

Um... you got your facts wrong here... in 1923, a full decade before Hitler's rise to power, the Reichsmark became virtually worthless... when a 100 Billion Mark could buy you a loaf of bread. This hyperinflation was partly caused by the excessive reparations demanded upon Germany after WWI.

At the end of WWII all German Reichsmark currency was totally worthless... when the Nazi state collapsed. For 3 years afterwards [[until the 1948 currency reforms), most all exchange in Germany was done using the barter system.