Why wont the US collapse?

peilthetraveler · Dec 21, 2009

EVERY fiat money system in the last 2000 years (since Rome) has failed. About 3800 fiat money systems have existed since then and they have all ended badly. What makes any of you think that this time its different? The most powerful nations in the world had tried this over and over and each time it destroyed the power of their nations. Even the United states failed with their fiat money system the first few times they tried it in the 1700s. We have been on fiat money for the last 38 years (with the rest of the world) and we are about to collapse again.

Not to worry though. Although I believe that the US is going to fail soon, the rest of the world is also going to have to come off fiat money too so at least we will all be in the same boat.

The only thing that would stop us from failing would be if we had sound responsible monetary policy that we stuck to. But then again...if we did that, we wouldnt really need to be on fiat money and we might as well just be on the gold standard.

intradaybill · Dec 21, 2009

If you attack A, please suggest option B. Meaning that:

What is the alternative to fiat money? Please, don't tell me it is gold. Someone must be either too stupid ot too naive to think that going back to gold is a solution when it is mostly owned by the same people who own the oil wells or by those who have the biggest trade surplus. Do you knwo what that would mean? Immediate starvation for a good part of the world or in the best case slavery.

Pray, "Long live fiat money", you should...

IanMacQuaide · Dec 21, 2009

Quote from intradaybill:

If you attack A, please suggest option B. Meaning that:

What is the alternative to fiat money? Please, don't tell me it is gold. Someone must be either too stupid ot too naive to think that going back to gold is a solution when it is mostly owned by the same people who own the oil wells or by those who have the biggest trade surplus. Do you knwo what that would mean? Immediate starvation for a good part of the world or in the best case slavery.

Pray, "Long live fiat money", you should...

Ya mean we're NOT going there anyways?

TheGoonior · Dec 21, 2009

Not being an economist, I'd be interested to hear of an example system that works or has worked on a large scale.

Angrycat · Dec 21, 2009

Quote from intradaybill:

If you attack A, please suggest option B. Meaning that:

What is the alternative to fiat money? Please, don't tell me it is gold. Someone must be either too stupid ot too naive to think that going back to gold is a solution when it is mostly owned by the same people who own the oil wells or by those who have the biggest trade surplus. Do you knwo what that would mean? Immediate starvation for a good part of the world or in the best case slavery.

Pray, "Long live fiat money", you should...

you could at least take The bernankes out of the equation by systematizing the way Milton Friedman suggested.

traderjb · Dec 21, 2009

Quote from Angrycat:

you could at least take The bernankes out of the equation by systematizing the way Milton Friedman suggested.

Are you talking about his suggestion of handing over the Fed to computers?

traderjb · Dec 21, 2009

Quote from peilthetraveler:

EVERY fiat money system in the last 2000 years (since Rome) has failed. About 3800 fiat money systems have existed since then and they have all ended badly. What makes any of you think that this time its different? The most powerful nations in the world had tried this over and over and each time it destroyed the power of their nations. Even the United states failed with their fiat money system the first few times they tried it in the 1700s. We have been on fiat money for the last 38 years (with the rest of the world) and we are about to collapse again.

Not to worry though. Although I believe that the US is going to fail soon, the rest of the world is also going to have to come off fiat money too so at least we will all be in the same boat.

The only thing that would stop us from failing would be if we had sound responsible monetary policy that we stuck to. But then again...if we did that, we wouldnt really need to be on fiat money and we might as well just be on the gold standard.

I think, eventually down the road, someone will come up with a hybrid of fiat and asset-backed. Not sure how, but both systems didn't last long. There has to be a way to take the advantages of both and find a way to make them compatible.

pspr · Dec 21, 2009

Fiat money is the only solution that could possibly work in today's world because there is no one valuable asset that could substitute for wealth and be portable. Gold and silver could work in a smaller world but what single asset today has enough intrinsic value, yet is abundent, can be standardized and is accepted world wide? Don't say, "oil". I don't have room for thousands of barrels of oil.

The real problem isn't the currency. It is the creation of currency and the government deficit spending that is the problem.

TraderZones · Dec 21, 2009

Quote from peilthetraveler:

we are about to collapse again.

Not to worry though. Although I believe that the US is going to fail soon, .

Well, thank heavens we are gettng expert advice (you). What are your qualifications for pronouncements, again?

PlusMinus · Dec 21, 2009

Quote from pspr:

Fiat money is the only solution that could possibly work in today's world because there is no one valuable asset that could substitute for wealth and be portable. Gold and silver could work in a smaller world but what single asset today has enough intrinsic value, yet is abundent, can be standardized and is accepted world wide? Don't say, "oil". I don't have room for thousands of barrels of oil.

The real problem isn't the currency. It is the creation of currency and the government deficit spending that is the problem.

That's just it, the problem *is* the currency. Because you can't *create* gold or silver.