# The USA and the Dollar are Toast?



## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

I'm not a huge fan of WND, but I do go there from time to time to read some of their stuff. While I was there this evening, I saw a link to an article proclaiming that the USA and the dollar are dead. It's written by Lord Munkton who I'm a fan of when it comes to the environment, but no opinion on him regarding other topics, although he does seem to put this into perspective quite nicely...

Full Article at the link below

*The USA and the Dollar are toast*

A few paragraphs from the article:

_"The once-mighty United States is now the most indebted nation on Earth. In round numbers, here are just some of the vital statistics as the patient dies:

National debt: $17 trillion, or $50,000 per man, woman and child, or $150,000 per taxpayer. Annual federal deficit: $1 trillion. Medicare/Medicaid/Obama"care": $1 trillion a year. Social Security: another $1 trillion a year. Defense: two-thirds of a trillion. Unemployment handouts: $2 billion per working day. Debt interest: $1 billion per working day. Federal pensions, ditto.

Now for the big numbers. Your government's Social Security liability is as big as the national debt: $17 trillion. Its prescription drug liability is $22 trillion. Then there's the Medicare liability of $86 trillion. Total unfunded liabilities of the U.S. government are $125 trillion.

Net assets for each U.S. citizen are $300,000. The net liability of the U.S. government, shared among its citizens, amounts to almost four times that: $1.1 million a head. And the government's debt is growing at $1 million every 45 seconds. To cover its annual deficit, it is printing $1 trillion a year of currency that is not backed by any asset whatsoever.

*snip*

So, what should you do to protect yourself and your family? First, get rid of every dollar you have. Dollars are now all but worthless. When the crash comes, they will have no value at all.

In hard times, most financial instruments - currencies, stocks, bonds - are not worth the paper they are printed on. Get rid of them now. Buy silver coins. They will quintuple in price once the crash sets in, and they are small enough to be fungible when the dollar dies.

Buy land, some of it well-wooded, some of it arable, some of it grassland. You will need the timber to power your steam tractor. Gasoline will be a costly rarity. And make sure you can defend yourselves. Starving mobs are no respecters of persons. Do what the Mormons do: Get three months' supply of imperishable foodstuffs and hide them in the basement.

Absurd though this advice may now seem, there is a real danger that the crash will sudden. If so - perhaps for several months, and even for years - the fabric of civilization, including the food-supply chain, will fail."_


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Thanks, d_saum. I sent the link to my husband. I'm hoping he'll read it.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I like WND. They have a lot of good material there.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Yes, it's a good article. I've seen total unfunded liabilities anywhere between $60 trillion and $200 trillion. 

If we don't have a complete economic collapse in the next few years we'll see America's infrastructure decay to the point where we're a third world country. Roads and bridges will go unrepaired. Bridges will collapse and there won't be money to rebuild them. We'll also see gross underfunding of hospitals and nursing homes like they have in the UK with the same disastrous results. 

Besides of course, America defaulting on social security and pension payments. 

America's military will decay and collapse too. Eventually we'll have more ships, planes, and submarines waiting to be repaired than we have operational. We might even have that now.

You have to wonder what will happen to a country that spends 50% more than its income.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Send me all your dollars, I'll give you a good price for them.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

BillS said:


> Besides of course, America defaulting on social security and pension payments.


That, and medical funding. 
The default that will come soon will write off the (individual) debt of all "Too bad, it sucks to be you!" debts and liabilities. Military funding will get chopped but not eliminated. We need to just cease all welfare and unemployment spending down to ZERO, that will wake folks up.


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

LincTex said:


> We need to just cease all welfare and unemployment spending down to ZERO, that will wake folks up.


I disagree about zeroing the unemployment benefits *unless * the unemployment taxes imposed on businesses are also zeroed.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Marcus said:


> I disagree about zeroing the unemployment benefits *unless * the unemployment taxes imposed on businesses are also zeroed.


Sure, fair enough.


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

Good article. Thanks. Here is what I got out of it.


"Here is what will happen next. When the crash comes, don’t say you weren’t given fair and clear warning.

First, the dollar will cease – no, make that “is already ceasing” – to be the world’s reserve currency. China, as I have been warning you she would, has realized the dollar is finished. So she is quietly making startling progress with bilateral and multilateral deals to replace the dollar with the yuan as the world’s currency of choice.

Sterling, once the world’s reserve currency, went precisely the same way in 1967 under orders from Moscow, which then largely controlled the governing Socialist Labor party in Britain.

After the Second World War, the Socialist/Communist governments of Attlee and Wilson bankrupted Britain with health-care and welfare programs and nationalization of industries. Inflation rose to 27 percent."

The destruction of the dollar is by design!


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Rev,

USD is still such an overwhelming major force, that it can't be overcome.

IMO, the geniuses in DC and on Wall Street have gotten themselves boxed into a corner and don't know how to get out.

It's going to be ugly... but I'm still expecting it will be a black swan event.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

partdeux said:


> Rev,
> 
> USD is still such an overwhelming major force, that it can't be overcome.
> 
> ...


OK, we'll play it your way for the sake of argument. Let's say the dollar remains the world's reserve currency for countries because they don't know what else to do. A lot of individual investors around the world have dollar holdings. According to this zerohedge article,

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-15/argentines-are-hoarding-1-every-15-cash-dollars-world

Argentina just by itself has 1/15 of all the dollars in the world. People around the world who are afraid of hyperinflation might very well be the first to dump their dollars. What starts as a trickle could become a flood in a very short time. I'm sure there are more dollars held by private citizens in most countries than by their governments.

Remember, one of the key parts of hyperinflation is a huge increase in the velocity of money. People who get dollars will want to get rid of them as quickly as they can. I expect to see a rush into all kinds of commodities at some point. Foreign banks and countries will probably be forced to buy real estate in the US as a way to get rid of their dollars.

I don't expect some type of black swan event. I agree with John Williams from shadowstats.com in this regard: at some point, dollar investors will get nervous about all the money printing and the total lack of seriousness when it comes to getting the budget deficit under control. I believe panic selling of the dollar could start at any time but it could also be the market response to another large terrorist attack on US soil. So, I think panic selling of the dollar could be a response to a black swan event but it wouldn't have to be.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

BillS said:


> OK, we'll play it your way for the sake of argument. Let's say the dollar remains the world's reserve currency for countries because they don't know what else to do.


something like 65% of all world trade flows through USD. Another 25% or so flows through the Euro.

While other countries are managing on off trade agreements, it's all based on pure and simple trust. USD is the common exchange medium that everybody "trusts". Don't forget many of the Worlds largest banks are US banks. If that trust gets broken, hang on!

If it falls apart, the entire world's economy will fall apart. Much of China's economy is directly related to the US. No US economy, no China economy. Euro is locked in a financial civil war with no real solution.

Central banks are trading each other debts for currency. It's like my neighbors exchanging IOU's with our only assets being those IOU's. If one neighbor goes bankrupt, we all lose our assets.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Do you really think some rich guy would deliberately crash the U.S. economy to make a few bucks?


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

swjohnsey said:


> Do you really think some rich guy would deliberately crash the U.S. economy to make a few bucks?


Pretty sure something like that happened to cause the great depression of the 1930 s (manipulating the stock market) never underestimate greed :brickwall:


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

partdeux said:


> Rev,
> 
> USD is still such an overwhelming major force, that it can't be overcome.
> 
> ...


History seems to repeat itself! And I agree it will be a black swan event but the wheels are in motion for another currency. Hold on to your saddle horn pard, she's gettin ready to buck.


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

partdeux said:


> Rev,
> 
> USD is still such an overwhelming major force, that it can't be overcome.
> 
> ...


Partdeux - sorry but when I have both the chief investment officer and chief operations officer, both with CPA, and Masters in economics - one from Harvard, one from Yale, who are also both Partners at one of the world's top 80 Asset Management Firms and BOTH separately tell me USD will not be worlds reserve currency for oil purchases in 4-6 years (and that was a year ago), I will believe them... My bet is one china's currency since the are the fastest growing and 2nd largest consumer of oil behind US.


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

BillS said:


> Remember, one of the key parts of hyperinflation is a huge increase in the velocity of money. People who get dollars will want to get rid of them as quickly as they can. I expect to see a rush into all kinds of commodities at some point. Foreign banks and countries will probably be forced to buy real estate in the US as a way to get rid of their dollars.
> 
> I don't expect some type of black swan event. I agree with John Williams from shadowstats.com in this regard: at some point, dollar investors will get nervous about all the money printing and the total lack of seriousness when it comes to getting the budget deficit under control. I believe panic selling of the dollar could start at any time but it could also be the market response to another large terrorist attack on US soil. So, I think panic selling of the dollar could be a response to a black swan event but it wouldn't have to be.


Umm, if you haven't noticed investors are already grabbing up all the real estate... In 2010 there were 2.4 million houses (price range from $100-500k) in SHADOW inventory, with 4.5 million in actual inventory on the market... Today in most major cities, that whole price range is now a seller's market with practically ZERO total inventory... Over the last year houses in Atlanta have been snatched up - cash transactions... I have an agent friend who sold 32 houses last year, her average for the past 10 years has been 16 houses a year... That shadow inventory has simply disappeared... So phase one of spreading investments has started...


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

The elitists invested in Hitler just in case he won. If they lose half of their 30 billion they are still elitists. They don't care! It's a big club and we aren't in it!


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## Startingout-Blair (Aug 28, 2012)

swjohnsey said:


> Do you really think some rich guy would deliberately crash the U.S. economy to make a few bucks?


Ever heard of George Soros? He did it to Britain! And he will do it to us too!


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

Startingout-Blair said:


> Ever heard of George Soros? He did it to Britain! And he will do it to us too!


Hey bro... Good to see you back online!


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

> The USA and the Dollar are Toast?


Yes, along with all other major countries. Now if I could determine the exact timing.:scratch


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

partdeux said:


> Much of China's economy is directly related to the US. No US economy, no China economy.


True, but China knows if it CAN trade in a currency other than the US dollar it can save a lot of money. There's nothing stopping China from sliding over to other currencies.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

invision said:


> Partdeux - sorry but when I have both the chief investment officer and chief operations officer, both with CPA, and Masters in economics - one from Harvard, one from Yale, who are also both Partners at one of the world's top 80 Asset Management Firms and BOTH separately tell me USD will not be worlds reserve currency for oil purchases in 4-6 years (and that was a year ago), I will believe them... My bet is one china's currency since the are the fastest growing and 2nd largest consumer of oil behind US.


I will agree that the USD will not be the worlds reserve currency. I would emphatically emphasize it will NOT be the yuan either. I would also suggest that the time frame is much shorter than 4-6 years. I suspect we'll see a significant stock market crash within 12 months, and my gut is telling me within months. currency issue in 2-3 years.


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

partdeux said:


> I will agree that the USD will not be the worlds reserve currency. I would emphatically emphasize it will NOT be the yuan either. I would also suggest that the time frame is much shorter than 4-6 years. I suspect we'll see a significant stock market crash within 12 months, and my gut is telling me within months. currency issue in 2-3 years.


well, I don't see the stock market crashing until the Fed stops printing money and at present, who knows really when that will be.. UNLESS - there is a huge shift all of a suddent across the globe to dump USD as worlds reserve currency - then it all crashes immediately... or UNLESS hyperinflation just totally kicks in unannounced - but here I really can't see it doing that without a trigger event because the Fed is actually keeping it low... Now granted I totally disagree with their numbers - IMO food & gas prices are the two largest purchases for most americans - and we are totally ignoring those costs...


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

invision said:


> - but here I really can't see it doing that without a trigger event because the Fed is actually keeping it low...


AKA Black Swan event 

Market fundamentals are so far out of whack right now it's ridiculous, which unfortunately means when it comes down, it's going to come down hard and fast.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

Jim Rickards, who wrote the book "Currency Wars" gave some alternates to the dollar as world reserve currency. IIRC, they were:
-Gold
-SDR's (Special Drawing Rights of IMF)
-Multiple Reserve Currencies (such as the BRIC countries as one and other trade groups forming others)
-Chaos (Meaning every country for itself, as it was long ago.)

He has a blog website here:
http://jimrickards.blogspot.com/

His book outlines how we got where we are now, and offers some ideas of where it is going, as above.

Personally, I am betting on the black swan as the trigger event, with chaos to follow for a while. Not the time to be holding dollars in any significant amount, IMHO. Several analysts I have read lately only give the US anywhere from a few months to 2-3 years before it comes apart. Each time another pair of nations agree to trade in their own currencies, the day gets closer, like Australia and China recently did.


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## zombieresponder (Aug 20, 2012)

BillS said:


> Yes, it's a good article. I've seen total unfunded liabilities anywhere between $60 trillion and $200 trillion.


This is the real problem. They don't want those numbers talked about. BTW, the actual number is much, much closer to the 200 trillion mark than it is to 60.

I don't know if anyone's heard about what they're going to do with the GDP numbers, but it's another move in the shell game to make the economy appear to be better than it is. In a nutshell, they're going to add in _promised_ pension/retirement funds. As it was, only payments to a pension account were added to GDP figures. Now, if an employer _promises_ "X" amount of money to a pension account, it will be added to GDP figures. In other words, no money is changing hands, only the promise of money changing hands in the future....payments promised 20 years from now will be figured into current GDP numbers. :scratch


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## Startingout-Blair (Aug 28, 2012)

invision said:


> Hey bro... Good to see you back online!


Thanks Brother! Been sneaking in here once in a while to check in. Haven't forgotten my prepping brothers and sisters! Just been really busy with planting, working on the coop, and a lot of other crap. I haven't even had much time to study up on specific skills lately, other than gardening! Lol!
I will try to pop in more often!


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

swjohnsey said:


> Do you really think some rich guy would deliberately crash the U.S. economy to make a few bucks?


No, it's not some rich guy. Obama, the Federal Reserve, and the central banks of Europe and Japan are colluding to destroy the world's fiat currencies all at the same time. The goal is creating a one-world police state government.


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