With the system as blatantly corrupt as it is now with history showing honest governments and few and far between, the chance of a sharp return in the US dollar is not very likely. The current political trends are showing the state exercising massive force to maintain power and keep their system of wealth distribution intact.
Sadly, there isn't much hope for the west returning to free-market principles or some type of sound monetary-system backed by physical assets. The FED is simply functioning as a mechanism for banks to dump bad debts and avoid having to deal with the consequence of making poor business decisions.
While demand in places like China and India are increasing, part of the issue with the precious metals market is the blatant manipulation by these banks of prices relative to US dollars; however, if you look at purchasing power you will find the truth. An ounce of gold will still buy you today what it did 3000 years ago - a nice suit, a new shirt and a new pair of shoes and dinner at a fancy restaurant for you and the lady of your choice. 1 dollar will not buy you what it did yesterday, let alone 20 or 30 years ago.
Long term - the systemic corruption evolves out of the fiat currency system. That's why they've never been stable and never will be. paper is simply too easy to manipulate. prices can be held down temporarily but over the long-term the prices are going to go up relative to the USD. The purchasing power says it all. $1 in 1964 silver coins buys you about 5-6 gallons of gas. It's not the demand that's driving prices up. It's the constant devaluation of the dollar.
Boy do I feel bad for the average working Joe once the repercussions of the Fed's policies make their way into food, gas and other commodity prices. Silver and Gold will benefit and likely become even more rare as our economy turns into something reminiscent of the Soviet-Union in the early 1990's.
None of this is a prediction.