Folks -- My wife and I are the proud parents of a newborn girl. Her grandparents (my parents) have given her $100 to be deposited in a savings account for her college education. $100 isn't much, I know, but she has 18 years to go before she'll begin to draw on it, and, circumstances permitting, we'll add to the pot as time goes by, so time is on her side.
Unless...
I deposit the $100 in a US dollar-denominated savings account (we live in the United States, by the way). In that event, she is likely to experience the dubious pleasures of massive currency devaluation. Why? Because a sinkhole of debt swallows our economy. Soon, there will only be two ways out -- default or devaluation. Our policymakers will choose door number two.
I have reason to believe that I know whereof I speak: I spent 10 years in Washington, D.C. as a national political reporter, dealing on a one-on-one basis with those fine headliners who make the laws of our land. Yes, these are the same very famous people you might imagine them to be. What you might not imagine (or perhaps you might) is how many of them -- after hours, off-the-record -- will concede this very point: The US Dollar is toast.
So, back to the subject of my own narrow self-interest -- or, really, my daughter's. I have $100 to deposit in a savings account. What denomination should I seek? I realize the Euro has some sheen at the moment, but I'm even less sanguine about Europe's long-term potential than I am about the United States'. So, Swiss Franc? Yen? Yuan? How about the Ruble? With its stupendous natural resource base, and evident interest in reinventing fascism for the 21st century, Russia has the potential to become one mighty gangster state.
Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts on the subject.
Unless...
I deposit the $100 in a US dollar-denominated savings account (we live in the United States, by the way). In that event, she is likely to experience the dubious pleasures of massive currency devaluation. Why? Because a sinkhole of debt swallows our economy. Soon, there will only be two ways out -- default or devaluation. Our policymakers will choose door number two.
I have reason to believe that I know whereof I speak: I spent 10 years in Washington, D.C. as a national political reporter, dealing on a one-on-one basis with those fine headliners who make the laws of our land. Yes, these are the same very famous people you might imagine them to be. What you might not imagine (or perhaps you might) is how many of them -- after hours, off-the-record -- will concede this very point: The US Dollar is toast.
So, back to the subject of my own narrow self-interest -- or, really, my daughter's. I have $100 to deposit in a savings account. What denomination should I seek? I realize the Euro has some sheen at the moment, but I'm even less sanguine about Europe's long-term potential than I am about the United States'. So, Swiss Franc? Yen? Yuan? How about the Ruble? With its stupendous natural resource base, and evident interest in reinventing fascism for the 21st century, Russia has the potential to become one mighty gangster state.
Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts on the subject.