zlacker

>>anigbr+(OP)
As a US taxpayer I don’t particularly like this. We rely on being the world’s reserve currency, and many things get more expensive, e.g., serving government debt. In 2000-2001 we were able to effectively bully three countries that were talking about moving away from the US dollar, but I am not sure if that works now.

I have a lot of personal theories how my country can best cope with future geopolitical adjustments. If I were in charge, the first thing I would do would be to close most foreign military bases. We can have the strongest military in the world and have them largely based in the US. I think the US Navy continues to be a good investment, but I would cut back a small amount on intel and other military branches.

>>mark_l+R3
Are you really worried about the dollar being threatened? What is the alternative? There isn’t any at the moment is there? Some countries may try to move away from the dollar to some degree but it’s not like the Yuan or Ruble is remotely close to replacing it. It’s not even clear that China or Russia would even want them to. China would have to give up capital control which doesn’t seem likely. They’re too afraid of capital flight.

All these ideas of some kind of blockchain based common alternative is still just a pipe dream. You can’t base a real currency on crypto. If you think you can you don’t understand what currency actually is (hint: currency has never been a successor to metal/coin based transactions… it’s an abstraction over debt and debt has and will always be the main way value is exchanged. crypto cant replace debt based currency because debt is based on trust in humans, something that trust in an algorithm can’t replace)

>>audunw+F8
Good question. I don’t worry so much about any other single currency taking over as the reserve currency. Rather, I think individual pair-ups of trading partners will more frequently trade with each other in their own currencies. It is the dilution of the use of dollars that concerns me.

I share some of your lack of enthusiasm for crypto currencies. Rather, as individual countries trade between themselves it may often be advantageous for them to use their own currencies, especially if they don’t have to hold other countries’ currencies for long periods of time.

Non-US countries pay quite a penalty for holding lots of dollars. I expect every country to do what is in their own best interests, just as I hope my country makes good long term economic and geopolitical decisions.