What If The Dollar Falls?

4.17.23 - What If The Dollar Falls?

Gold last traded at $1,994 an ounce. Silver at $25.02 an ounce.

What If The Dollar Falls? -Mises.org

The past few weeks, major countries have been moving away from the US dollar, raising doubts about the dollar's long-dominant role in the world. Eight weeks ago, it was just pariah nations like Iran or Russia trying to de-dollarize. Now it's Brazil, France, even Saudi Arabia-the lynchpin of the decades-long "petrodollar" arrangement.

If the dollar does lose its position as the global reserve currency, it will be catastrophic for the American economy. Catastrophic for the American people on whose backs 80 years of reserve status were built. And it will subject billions of foreigners, for whom the dollar has meant decades of being bullied, to history's greatest bait and switch.

Dollar at Risk

In late March, Saudi Arabia announced it will price oil in Chinese yuan. Even CNN was worried, in a rare display of situational awareness, while Fox fretted about "Weimar"-hyperinflation.

The dollar has been the undisputed global reserve currency since the 1940s. Reserve currency status looks great on paper: You get to print stacks of green paper and foreigners give you cool stuff for it, like toasters, luxury cars, and copper mines. The problem is who profits-who gets paid when foreigners crave the green paper?