6 ms·

A major reason people use US dollars is because they want to buy stuff produced by the US. If the US doesn't produce anything, USD are pretty much useless.

by wz1000 9y ago

kolpa 9y ago
USD is also the de facto currency in many less-developed regions of the world, and also for international oil trade. One day those markets might become the "tail" that wags the US domestic "dog"
- mistermann 9y ago
  They might also switch to the Chinese Yuan, especially if the trend of the last 20 years continues, and there's little reason to expect it won't imho.
  - selectodude 9y ago
    Seeing as bringing CNY out of China is illegal, it would be really difficult for a country to import enough of it to run their economy. Whereas the most printed dollar bill is the $100, and 67 percent of them are outside of the US.
    - mistermann 9y ago
      You may have noticed that sometimes things change over time, American financial dominance is likely to undergo some serious changes in the next decade as people begin to wake up to the new economic realities of the world.
  - swebs 9y ago
    >there's little reason to expect it won't There are huge reasons to expect it won't. It's not like Saudi Arabia just woke up one day and decided to trade in dollars because the dollar was strong. It was part of an agreement where the US promised military aid and supplies. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untold-story-behind-saudi-arabia-s-41-year-u-s-debt-secret https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untol...
    - mistermann 9y ago
      Yes, and as America's economic power (and unity) wanes, it is losing its ability to sustain its freakishly powerful military, while China's meteoric rise makes them a very attractive new primary strategic partner. There's certainly all sorts of behind the scenes "influence" the US can still apply to traditional "allies", but the reason they've been able to do this so successfully is because of their economic dominance, which is disappearing relatively rapidly.

A major reason people use US dollars is because they want to buy stuff produced by the US. If the US doesn't produce anything, USD are pretty much useless.

by wz1000 9y ago

A major reason people use US dollars is because they want to buy stuff produced by the US. If the US doesn't produce anything, USD are pretty much useless.

kolpa 9y ago

USD is also the de facto currency in many less-developed regions of the world, and also for international oil trade. One day those markets might become the "tail" that wags the US domestic "dog"

mistermann 9y ago
They might also switch to the Chinese Yuan, especially if the trend of the last 20 years continues, and there's little reason to expect it won't imho.
- selectodude 9y ago
  Seeing as bringing CNY out of China is illegal, it would be really difficult for a country to import enough of it to run their economy. Whereas the most printed dollar bill is the $100, and 67 percent of them are outside of the US.
  - mistermann 9y ago
    You may have noticed that sometimes things change over time, American financial dominance is likely to undergo some serious changes in the next decade as people begin to wake up to the new economic realities of the world.
- swebs 9y ago
  >there's little reason to expect it won't There are huge reasons to expect it won't. It's not like Saudi Arabia just woke up one day and decided to trade in dollars because the dollar was strong. It was part of an agreement where the US promised military aid and supplies. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untold-story-behind-saudi-arabia-s-41-year-u-s-debt-secret https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untol...
  - mistermann 9y ago
    Yes, and as America's economic power (and unity) wanes, it is losing its ability to sustain its freakishly powerful military, while China's meteoric rise makes them a very attractive new primary strategic partner. There's certainly all sorts of behind the scenes "influence" the US can still apply to traditional "allies", but the reason they've been able to do this so successfully is because of their economic dominance, which is disappearing relatively rapidly.