/johnny
ping
That would be perfectly true if the world is governed by the rational thought. The US dollar would be dead and buried long ago.
But the world is not governed by computers. It is governed by people who have their own interests. One of such interests is pretending to believe that the US dollar is a stable, trustworthy currency. Why is it so? Because the alternatives lead to wars. Too much of planet's wealth is locked in USD, too much trade is carried out in USD. If the USD dies then the next day the planet has no common currency. Euro is even sicker, and regional currencies don't even have the volume to step in.
The USD is being undermined by aggressive printing. But that alone is not enough to destroy the USD. Weimar Republic demonstrated it in 20th century and Zimbabwe is doing the same in 21st. If a certain currency is all that you have to trade with then you have no choice.
Some say "gold." There is not enough gold in the world to facilitate the global trade. Gold is also an inconvenient currency; it can't be electronically transferred. Physical shipments are risky and expensive. We are stuck with virtual currencies, basically. And governments of the world are very happy with this arrangement. This is the factor that keeps the US dollar alive; it might be an SOB, but it's our SOB. The USD may be not backed by gold, but it is currently backed by a much better force - by willingness of people to buy and sell it. It doesn't matter to the people how much the USD gets diluted because other currencies are ultimately tracking it, one way or another. Perhaps the USD is not ideal for storing wealth for decades; but what fiat currency is good for that? Besides, you don't hold USD directly (in your mattress,) you buy a piece of action at IBM or Apple or Microsoft, and then instead of paper you own a share of an actual business that provides goods that everyone needs.
So, if the dollar goes extinct, can I pay my mortgage payment in vegetables from my garden?
And Ty Baby just happens to sell silver, right?