Amidst political and economic tension over a potential US debt default, the gold spot price continues near record nominal highs. However, instead of focusing on the gold price – and fretting over a paper currency – Judy Shelton, author and senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research, asks: “why can’t we just have money that works?”
[Read more...]How Your Money Market Dollars are Tied to the Fate of the Euro
June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With many of the giant US institutional funds holding commercial paper from European banks, your dollars in US money market accounts may not be much safer than euros at a Greek bank. For example, France-based BNP Paribas holds over $7 billion in Greek bonds, and it — along with other foreign banks similarly exposed to a potential Greek contagion — is widely-held by US money market funds.
[Read more...]It’s the End of the Dollar as we Know It (Do we Feel Fine?) Part 3 of 3
May 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Continued from part two.
As far as investors are concerned, merely reducing exposure to dollars and dollar financial assets may not be enough. To what extent the dollar devalues versus other currencies is, ultimately, a speculative guessing game.
[Read more...]It’s the End of the Dollar as we Know It (Do we Feel Fine?) Part 2 of 3
May 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Continued from part one.
So what might such a ‘dollar crisis’ look like, how would the US government likely respond, and what impact should we expect this to have on financial markets? While we do not purport to have the specific answers to these questions, there are some general considerations we can discuss with some reasonable confidence.
[Read more...]It’s the End of the Dollar as we Know It (Do we Feel Fine?) Part 1 of 3
May 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The dollar has been in focus of late, primarily due to its substantial decline in value versus other currencies and most major commodities. Indeed, when measured in broad, trade-weighted terms, the dollar’s April decline is one of the largest monthly drops of the past decade and extends what has now become the largest cumulative decline since the US economy exited recession in 2009. When measured versus a broad basket of global commodities, the recent decline has been even more dramatic.
[Read more...]Zimbabwe’s Zombie Dollar Incident
April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Just two days after Zimbabwe’s 31st independence day anniversary, parts of the capital were reportedly in “panic” and “shock” due to spreading word that the Zimbabwe dollar — which has been out of use since April 2009 due to about 89.7 sextillion percent hyperinflation — was possibly back in circulation… a zombie currency back from the dead.
[Read more...]Why High Oil Prices Are Likely Here to Stay
April 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A number of forces continued to push oil prices higher last week, reaching their highest levels in the U.S. since September 2008.
China Downplays Role of Gold in its Forex Holdings
June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This past week China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, indicated that it will “improve its diversification strategy on investing its foreign-exchange reserves–which at nearly $2.5 trillion is the world’s largest–but gave no details,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
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China’s Currency Flirting With Highs on US Credit Rating Downgrade
As most people with access to a TV — living under a rock and otherwise — are aware, US debt was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s late Friday night from AAA to AA+.
Since the US credit rating downgrade the Chinese yuan is flirting with 17-year highs.
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