Quote from protodigm:
Why would the euro crack anymore than the dollar to cause people to flood back?
Simple: The Euro is a centrally managed currency encompassing a variety of economic systems that are still not operating within as they are operating among. For example, Italy is operating with market-driven interest rates that imply a huge spread off eurozone-wide rates, which are essentially German-driven rates, so the management of the Euro may force Italy to begin to rely on the lira if markets move toward greater stress. Spain is in a similar situation.
By watching the difference between Eurozone interest rates and the rates driving local economies, you can see the degree to which the Euro is stable. Those spreads are beginning to widen.
It is also a problem for weak economies, like Spain and Italy, to be based on an externally strong currency. They may opt away from it as conditions deteriorate economically.
Quote from protodigm:
Also, oil is in for a correction once recession slams at the latest, won't that "deflate" the dollar as well?
The price of oil is unlikely to impact the value of the dollar very much under any conditions. The recession slam will have effects on markets. Crude. The dollar. Everything.
But the dollar's value will be a function of the degree to which other large currency systems are also being 'slammed', and whether or not banking systems remain coordinated and liquid.
Quote from protodigm:
Isn't gold skyrocketing not due to inflation but due to fear/speculation? In which case using gold to denominate the value of commodities doesn't work since its all speculative.
As I said: "rising fear of systemic financial shock (which is the real driver for the move in gold)".
But that simply means, people have more faith in gold as a currency...not a commodity. In other words, it is an allocation strategy to prepare for a 'worst-case-scenario' unraveling. And that only makes sense as a strategy if people think that gold will retain its value and transactability better than other vehicles.
So, my position is that gold is not skyrocketing. Rather, it is actually more accurate to say that gold is retaining its value, while fractional reserve currencies are eroding.
Hence, the real value of oil is revealed only when stripped of the effects of eroding currency stability and valuation.