Monday, March 1, 2010

The beginning of the end for USDollar hegemony

I have had many discussions among friends about the inevitability of the collapse of not only the USDollar, but all paper currencies. People shouldn't mistake the recent weakness of the Euro as a sign of strength in the USDollar. Almost all developed world countries share the same characteristics of high deficits, huge debts, and weakened economies--with poor prospects for growth. The end of USDollar hegemony is around the corner. Again, it's a matter of when, not if. Sovereign central bankers can paper over their insolvencies for only a finite period of time before the bond vigilantes attack their respective currencies.

Every major trading country has initiated attempts to diversify away from a declining dollar. Part of that strategy inevitably includes adding gold reserves. China, Brazil, Russia, and middle eastern oil-exporting countries have already made plans to trade in currencies other than petrodollars.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9958995


My take is that even if the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) are used for global trade in lieu of USDollars, hard assets will likely appreciate against any other currencies, due to all four currencies included in SDR's (Japanese yen, British Sterling pound, the Euro, and the USDollar) having been debased by their respective central bankers. It's a mad dash to the bottom, as all countries desperately devalue their respective currencies in an attempt to stimulate their economies. As controllers of the world's reserve currency, the US just happens to be the worst offender.

No comments:

Post a Comment