2 ms·
The basket many people are holding all their eggs in, is the USD Not many people, or at least not many people with nontrivial amounts of money, have all their
by hugh3 15y ago
The basket many people are holding all their eggs in, is the USD
Not many people, or at least not many people with nontrivial amounts of money, have all their assets in US dollars. Most folks own shares and/or property. As you say, US-dollar cash assets are a poor investment right now since interest rates are lower than inflation.
Still, keeping all your money in US dollars (in a big brown bag inside a zoo, perhaps) is a lot less nutty than keeping all your money in bitcoins. Even if nothing else, the US dollar has a history of relatively low volatility over the past couple of hundred years, whereas bitcoins have a history of insanely high volatility and dates back to (uhh, goes and checks) 2009.
- Canada 15y agoThe US dollar hasn't existed nearly that long in its current form. The current currency regime began in 1971 when Nixon ended the policy of buying back each dollar with 1/35 of an ounce of gold. Major changes to the nature or definition of the US Dollar occurred over the past 200 years: - In 1945 the Bretton Woods agreement made the US Dollar the world's reserve currency - In 1933 private ownership of gold in the US was outlawed. Gold was forcibly confiscated for $20 per ounce. The price was then raised to $35 per ounce. - In 1913 the Federal Reserve System was created - In 1861 fiat "Greenbacks" were issued