Many negative economic indicators have hit the headlines in recent weeks and months, but experts and ordinary citizens alike assume that it is only a matter of time before the US economy reverses course and experiences a significant recovery. The time bomb that no one is looking out for, however, is the imminent dollar collapse. When the mighty dollar crash will happen, the devastation will be severe. Its position as a global reserve currency gives the United States significant economic and political leverage, including such benefits as lower borrowing rates from other countries, which positively impacts both the government and the American population. But as the dollar crashes, the United States will experience serious economic collapse and another currency will have to fill the vacuum left in its absence.
According to goldmoney.com, the dollar could experience a total failure as early as the end of this year. After all, most of the big name banks across the world are currently in a worse position than they were even during the Lehman Brothers disaster. If these institutions were to collapse, financial markets would follow. Unfortunately, the Fed has already made its own fortune dependent on the future of the US dollar.
One potential solution is that a reset could be implemented, which means that all nations would need to agree upon a new global currency system. The last time this happened was during World War II, when the allied nations agreed that the US dollar would back their currencies, due largely to the fact that the United States owned the majority of the world’s gold supply at the time. Now, in order to maintain control, the US could bring back the greenback, which is different from the Fed’s dollar. But this measure would need to be paired with additional policy that stops the inflationary financing defining the current administration’s response to the pandemic. In an election year, and a particularly turbulent one at that, this shift is unlikely to come about.
It is difficult for people to imagine their national currency falling by the wayside, but historically, any fiat currency not backed by gold or silver has failed. It seems to be an inevitability. This typically occurs in two stages–a prolonged period of falling purchasing power, then an abrupt collapse when a currency’s users reject it. The current climate of economic distress as we plummet towards a depression sets the stage for currency depreciations across the globe.
In this video, we are going to address the conditions that have gotten us to this point, assess the risks of a dollar collapse, and tell you how such an event will affect the average American citizen.
There is even the potential that the dollar’s crash could be accelerated. As cryptocurrencies rise in popularity and in use, more individuals may begin to consider the risks and weaknesses of traditional fiat currencies that are not backed by gold or silver. Furthermore, as old standard cash and cheques are increasingly swapped out for digital payments, and modern communications technology leads to the rapid spread of information, fiat currencies will seem less and less like the most sensible option.
Remember, it still remains possible that the US Treasury pushes a reset, likely using
greenbacks, which were last issued in 1971. However, this would also require that the government stop propping up its populations with injections of cash, and this is unlikely to happen as the pandemic rages on and fears of a second wave amidst reopenings intensify. Moreover, replacement currencies often fail unless government financing by monetary expansion is abandoned.
Alternatively, the US Treasury still holds more than 8,000 tonnes of gold. The country could very well reintroduce gold convertibility for the greenbacks. But this leaves the US vulnerable to competition from other global superpowers like China, which could put up a gold convertibility of its own, one with potentially more power.
For one, China boasts the largest gold mining operation of any country in the world. Estimates pin the amount of gold they have mined since 2010 at around 4,200 tonnes. Second, gold and silver refining processes are fully under control of the Chinese government, and next to no refined gold kilo bars are allowed to be exported. Third, Chinese citizens were encouraged by the government to get their hands on physical gold back in 2002, the year the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) was established. In the first eight years of its existence, the SGE transferred an estimated 17,200 tonnes of gold into public ownership. Fourth, China’s allies in the region, particularly other powers like Russia, have been gathering stockpiles of gold and getting rid of US dollars. Finally, China essentially runs physical gold markets.
For more economic collapse news visit our website: www.epiceconomist.com