American Gangster's Wad of Euros Signals U.S. Decline

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- ``It may be our currency, but it's your problem'' was Treasury Secretary John Connally's taunt when the U.S. unhooked the dollar from the gold standard in 1971, unilaterally rewriting the rules of world business in America's favor.

Now the world is taunting back. Almost four decades after the U.S. tore up the monetary arrangements that governed the post-World War II international economy, the dollar's fall from grace amounts to a tectonic shift in the global hierarchy. This time, the U.S. currency is on the losing side.

After declining in five of the last six years, the weakest dollar in the era of floating currencies reflects a period of diminished U.S. political and economic hegemony. Whoever wins the White House next year will confront two unpopular choices: Accept the fall in U.S. clout and the rise of new rivals, or rein in record public and consumer debt that the rest of the world no longer wants to bankroll.

``What we're seeing is a very broad rebalancing of economic and political power in the world,'' says Jeffrey Garten, a Yale School of Business professor who was the Commerce Department's undersecretary for international trade in the Clinton administration. ``The scales are moving, and they're moving quite fast.''

The dollar blues have migrated from the halls of central banks to images of rap musicians.

In a video for the movie ``American Gangster,'' hip-hop maestro Jay-Z thumbs through a wad of 500-euro notes on a night of cruising through the concrete canyons of New York, a city where the euro isn't legal tender. The euro gained against the dollar today as European economic growth in the third quarter accelerated more than forecast.

---eoe---

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=azto7U.TmGX0&refer=exclusive

It must be true, I hear it on TV every now and then. Bet we're all gonna get trickled on any minute now.

Sure we may be living in mud hut villages and bartering with bottles of water instead of any recognized currency.

But sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can make any forward progress.

And in the mean time, with less political/economic clout, this government will be able to do less damage.

:sarcasm:

I am afraid you are right there. I have been called "Chicken Little" too many times to count over the last few years and too many people just don't get it. Let the SOB fall then, we'll have to pick up and start over again.....

All long as things are looking fine from afar, people will continue to live happily as they should.

But it's going to take a crisis.

Case in point gasoline.

There is no doubt in my mind that we can find other ways of getting around that don't require gas. Buying gas pollutes the environment, funds terrorists and of late, is killing our home budgets.

Plenty of great reasons to quit using gas, but it won't be till we have an economic collapse that people will feel the need to do anything about it. We can see it coming, but nothing will be done till it's a disaster.

America, will the last one left turn off the lights?

There is a 500 Euro note, while only a $100 bill. Even if the exchange rates were even, waving 500 Euro notes looks better than waving $100 bills.

I could give a fuck about some dick-measuring rap video. :eyes: