The Scandal of the Dollar

New York Sun ^ | 22 mar 08

[rellimpank]

Just when it looked like the financial crisis couldn't get worse, Congressman Henry Waxman, among others, is threatening to mount an investigation into the collapse of Bear Stearns. He is alarmed over the Fed's role in facilitating the liquidation of the investment banking house and delivering its remains to J.P. Morgan Chase. To which we can only say that if Congress wants to find a scandal, the one to look at is the collapse not of Bear Stearns but of the dollar, which in the past seven years has plummeted to less than a 900th of an ounce of gold from the 265th of an ounce it was worth at the start of President Bush's first term.

[rellimpank]

---yeah, Nostrils will be a big help--(sarc)

[Old Retired Army Guy]

I don’t know who is the bigger jerk. Waxman or Conyers? In each case, I understand they have to put a mirror in front of their mouths every morning to see if they are still breathing.

[the invisib1e hand]

hoo boy. the dollar is a medium of exchange, period. it is not sacred scripture. its “value” is subject to the rules and judgments of the marketplace. thus its value will change accordingly.

[Kanzan]

Recently he decided to tell we Kansans how we were going to generate electricity. The press tried to make a big deal out of it, but it just stirred up a bunch of jokes. Do any Freepers know if he’s as big a fool in private as he is in public?

[Content Provider]

The problem is not that the value floats, but that the value of the dollar is plummeting. There has been an almost 40% drop in the dollar index since 2002. The market IS judging it - and finding it wanting.

[the invisib1e hand]

The market IS judging it - and finding it wanting.

And?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

[Content Provider]

And that’s not particularly good for people who get paid in dollars, when the value of imported goods relative to the size of the economy exceeds the value of domestic production.

[Travis McGee]

"There is absolutely no truth to the rumors of liquidity problems that circulated today in the market. Bear Stearns' balance sheet, liquidity and capital remain strong."

~~Alan Schwartz, Bear Stearns CEO, March 10, 2008

[Travis McGee]

"ts “value” is subject to the rules and judgments of the marketplace. thus its value will change accordingly.

America on the road to Zimbabwe, via Argentina.

So much for its special status as world reserve currency, from 1944 until recently. Wait until we have to buy oil in Euros, then the pain will bite down.

[Uncle Ike]

” And? “

And — You need to go ask your mommy what it means when Daddy’s paycheck doesn’t buy as much as it used to....

[Racer1]

Well its like this, either Alan Schwartz told one heck of a lie, or someone withdrew a pile of money out of the bank causing it to fail. I think that should be looked into. The public, since its our money that financed the deal, has a right to know the true details. I think we have a right to know who, if anyone withdrew that large amount of cash.

[djf]

hoo boy. the dollar is a medium of exchange, period. it is not sacred scripture. its “value” is subject to the rules and judgments of the marketplace. thus its value will change accordingly.

That's why almost nobody saves them.
That's why we're in hock up to our eyeballs.
That's why you might as well hang a "For Sale" sign in front of the Capitol.

[lilylangtree]

And nary a word about an investigation into the collapse of Global Crossing where Terry McAuliffe (then DNC Chair) walked off with a cool $21 million. Who then took his ill-gotten gains and loaned $3 million to the clintoons to help buy their house in NY so that the hildebeast could establish residency for her run as junior senator from NY.

[rellimpank]

-—and the Republidums were in control of Congress then, too-—IIRC—

[CPOSharky]

Demonrats only “investigate” when they can bust somebody else’s chops.

[B4Ranch]

>That’s why you might as well hang a “For Sale” sign in front of the Capitol.<

It was sold to the Saudis and Chinese when Bush came to town.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Congress will cover for their important constituents, which means dumping more money to Wall St folks, who are important donors, and increasing welfare spending.

Congress will go for broke.

[Alberta's Child]

I don't see the decline of the U.S. dollar as such a huge scandal. It's part of a deliberate plan by the U.S. government to fix long-standing economic problems in this country that have been brought about as the result of the delusional expectations of our own citizens (and therefore our elected leaders, too). It has happened before (see the 1970s as a case in point) and will likely happen again in the future.

What makes the current situation somewhat different than the 1970s is that unlike that period, we now basically have a slave colony (China) with its own worthless currency pegged to the U.S. dollar. This enables us to continue to enjoy a very high standard of living no matter how far the U.S. dollar declines against other world currencies.

[dennisw]

Wait ‘till we have to buy oil in (25%) gold backed rubles which the Russians Venezuelans and Persians will make the new reserve currency