These are exhausting days. Although I've been doing my job perhaps better than ever before, I'm working against several frictions that neither decrease my performance nor damage my reputation, but they are annoying.
On top of this, it is football season, and I am again coaching. We won our first game last week, and we've another tomorrow. It occurs to me when I come home that I am no longer in my twenties, and that years of relative non-exercise have taken their toll. I like to run with the kids, even hitting a bit to show how to drive block or deliver a good "pop," but my legs are less responsive and the soreness persists longer than ever.
Add the coming elections, and I fall into despair. The right men and women will either not win or default on their promises. The wars persist. Monetary and fiscal policies are insane. The dollar is in real danger. I'm not an economist, but I see dark clouds on the horizon.
I haven't heard many speak of it, but I think that in addition to rising debt and persistently low interest rates from the Fed, we're looking at petroleum being valued by a currency other than the dollar. This is only a hunch. I've heard it in a few places (though I cannot remember where), but it makes sense. Perhaps Bob can correct me on this, but if petroleum drops the dollar, global demand for the dollar will plummet. Given the unprecedented supply (am I right on this?) of dollars, a rapid drop in demand will be a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions (in the United States, that is).
Someone who knows better than I do on the above subject should chime in and clarify or correct my assumptions.
And my Fantasy Football teams suck.
I am not old, but I am tired.
Frictions? Are you wearing tight corduroys?
ReplyDeleteThis should fire you up. This is an old clip about a transaction tax added to any transactions with a financial institution. The reasoning is just precious.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/12/03/pelosi_transaction_tax_has_great_deal_of_merit.html
I think this will get a rant out of you.
I'm not sure what you mean. If you're saying that oil-producing nations might insist on payment in currencies besides dollars, then I'm not sure how big a deal that would be. I think it would just mean that a stockpile of dollars that are used to facilitate oil transactions would be freed up to push up dollar-prices elsewhere, but it probably wouldn't be that big of an effect by itself.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if you are saying that people around the world would stop using dollars as the reserve currency, and instead would switch to a unit of account based on barrels of oil, then that would be a big deal.