Theme song: Stayin' Alive
I Want Your Opinion
Those who know me know that I really don't like politics and I find money itself is not much of a motivator.
However.
I read this, erm, provocative, article by Porter Stansberry about the in-his-opinion imminent loss of the dollar as the international reserve currency.
Basically, he's predicting that the United States dollar will no longer be the international reserve currency which will mean, among other things, that the Federal Reserve (a private company -- not part of our government) will no longer be able to print money in order to support our debt.
Get it. I'm not an economist. Nevertheless, it seems like a relative no brainer that if we can't print money to keep up with our debt we will have t-r-o-u-b-l-e and that spells trouble.
Turns out Dude (Stansberry) is probably a crook and maybe a crackpot and definitely wanting people to sign up for his subscriber list.
But.
His article got me to thinking or, you could say, intuiting.
For one thing, am I wrong to think that we are at least all in agreement that there is something at least a little bit off kilter with not only the US economy but the international economy as well?
You cannot, as our government has done, prop up 114 trillion of dollars of unfunded liabilities simply by printing more money.
As my Grandma Alice (bless her crazybeautiful Armenian soul) used to say, "It just isn't done."
Why? Because it doesn't make any sense -- at least not from where I'm sitting.
Yet it is being done. To the tune of 40 to 85 billion dollars per month in 2013. No. I'm not kidding.
Maybe I shouldn't worry my pretty little head. After all is said and done, I'm sure the US government and the Fortune 500 companies bank rolling it probably have this single mom's best interests in mind. Anna who?
Change Happens
I have no doubt, too, that sooner or later, the US dollar will no longer be the international reserve currency. For one thing, life is about change.
No, silly, I'm not talking about the trillion dollar platinum coin that Philip Diehl, the former U.S. Mint Director and Treasury chief of staff who wrote the bill legalizing the coin, suggested might be a solution to the US debt crisis.
Again, I ask: Are we on the same page here? Does printing platinum coins to resolve our debt seem a little, erm, odd? Or is it just me?
To be fair, not everyone uses the word "crisis" to describe the US debt situation. There are some, I'm sure -- those who love money way more than I could ever hope to -- who are experiencing the US debt as a (golden) opportunity.
So. Change happens, maybe in the form of a platinum coin, maybe not.
Don't take my word for it. Look at your own body, your own mind and all the life and structures you see around you. Surely they are not the same now as they were when you first experienced conscious awareness of them.
The Buddhists call it impermanence. The physicists call it entropy. What do you call it?
Up until 1944, the pound sterling was the international reserve currency. Not any more, baby. So, is it impossible to think that someday, some way, the US dollar could cease to be the international reserve currency?
Pun intended: the US has had a good run for its money. We as a nation have enjoyed a period of unprecedented prosperity and world domination (don't forget to give a nod of thanks to the Native Americans, slaves of all colors and the natural eco-system -- not to mention the US's good fortune to be one of the few countries left standing after a couple of world wars).
What Do You Think?
As I said, I'm no economist. So, do me a favor and take a look at some of these links and tell me what you think.
Yes or No? Are we all cool?
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