What will happen if the U.S. dollar’s reign as the world reserve currency comes to an end?

[headhonchoII]

I think the predictions of break up of euro or USD immediate demise are far off field, it's far more likely a few countries will drop out of the eurozone, the USD will slowly start to share the stage with the yuan and the euro and things will keep grinding on.

There is no gold standard bretton woods type of break up scenario. China needs the USD to not be too weak.

The US still has strong economic core strength, far ahead in tech and demographics and huge energy resources, they will go for a combination of moderate inflation and economic growth to reduce the debt load.

[Charlie Phillips]

The idea of a single world currency is gaining less currency as the global economy has become evermore interdependent. I guess the Americans will just have to get their economic house in order, instead of sucking up the world's resources and getting fatter while sitting on their collective asses watching TV or driving gas-guzzling hummers bought as extensions to mortgages around gated suburban communities, while hispanics shoot blacks, and football stars and basketball stars evangelize for Jesus, and unemployment lines take people away from Walmart supermarket queues, and angry people buy more guns and gold and type messages on internet forums in ALLCAPS claiming Amerika is THE first world nation and everyone else is third-world and Australia is south of Germany and Iran is Australasia and good sausage is a kind of frozen meat patty with a little pink slime mixed with unhealthy doses of cereal-like substances and the world will be saved by buying more overpriced, patented medicine, made cheap at Foxconn-like companies and yuppies distinguish themselves from the unwashed masses by drinking Starbucks coffee which is twice the price, but inferior to MacDonalds coffee, and the people who eat at Mikky D's only go there for the crap food and don't even appreciate the great coffee.

The future is a basket of currencies.

[SillyWilly]

Jim Rogers : We need to Replace the US Dollar
Jim Rogers : The world needs something to compete with the US Dollar , America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world so we need something to compete with and probably replace the US Dollar , there is nothing else , may be China someday a long time from now , the only thing that's on the horizon is the Euro , the Euro would be great it's a big economy lot's of population as a whole it's not a huge debtor like the US so the Euro would be great to replace the US Dollar and compete with the US Dollar unfortunately I don't think it's going to work , I don't think there will be a Euro in ten years certainly not a euro like we know now , may be you would have a few sound countries with a single sound currency , but it's became a political currency instead of an economic currency , everybody uses phony bookkeeping the Greeks are the perfect example spending money that they did not have so as long as you let that happen the currency corrodes from within it rots from within ..... - in Hot News Romania interview
Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL553EBB952EA96040&feature=player_detailpage&v=XSJFP9K6oU0

Worth it to watch the entire 4 part interview.

[SillyWilly]

Tick, tock, tick, tock!

[Abacus]

Tick, tock, tick, tock!

Here is some other news from 100 years ago:

On January 5, 1914, Henry Ford announced a minimum five dollar salary for all elegible employees working eight-hour days. It was conceived as a profit-sharing plan which would motivate Ford employees to adopt efficient and productive habits at both the factory and the home.

[SillyWilly]

Tick, tock, tick, tock!

Here is some other news from 100 years ago:

On January 5, 1914, Henry Ford announced a minimum five dollar salary for all eligible employees working eight-hour days. It was conceived as a profit-sharing plan which would motivate Ford employees to adopt efficient and productive habits at both the factory and the home.

Here's a quote from the same Henry Ford about money:
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before morning.”

- Henry Ford

Well said Henry. A hundred years on and the people STILL don't understand the monetary system as evidenced by the lack of revolution.

Here's a word of warning from Voltaire, the French philosopher.
“At the end fiat money returns to its intrinsic value—zero.”

- Voltaire

[headhonchoII]

Obviously wages have increased with inflation too over that period but they haven't kept up since the 1990s for many workers.

[Homey]

Tick, tock, tick, tock!

Sorry to break the news to you, but inflation has been happening all over the world, not just in America.

With population and thus demand rising and natural resources dwindling (supply decreasing), you can be sure that it will continue, all over the world.

[headhonchoII]

You could always take the deutchmark and make a graph of inflation with it from 1900, that would make a joke of the USD graph (inflation of 1000s of percent) but it would not tell you anything relevant on it's own.

[SillyWilly]

You could always take the deutchmark and make a graph of inflation with it from 1900, that would make a joke of the USD graph (inflation of 1000s of percent) but it would not tell you anything relevant on it's own.

I understand your logic, but it's flawed. The DM, or any other currency for that matter, was never the world's reserve currency. The USD is the reserve currency of the world, but evidence is mounting that it won't be for much longer. In all probability, the USD will just continue its slide for decades to come, but it would have lost its role as reserve currency long before that.

Eventually (several decades from now) it will be worthless, like other paper currencies, just like Voltaire said 250 years ago, “At the end fiat money returns to its intrinsic value — zero.”