While the stock market appears to be in a free fall and the business press is tossing around words like depression, doom, and chaos (irresponsibly, I may add), there is cause for optimism. The good news is that the US dollar is rising very quickly in value on the world market.

Last week the dollar was at the highest level in more than a year when compared to the Euro and other major currencies. Our purchasing power has surged dramatically which means that our nation just got a raise, so to speak.

We must remind ourselves about the power of the US dollar—the US is the standard for the world’s currencies. This must sound a little crazy, but despite the fact that our debt system seems in chaos, we stand to gain much from this situation.

On the consumer purchasing front, we will win big time with better prices for foreign made goods such as consumer electronics and imported automobiles. Additionally, this increase in the value of the dollar will provide us unusual political leverage when negotiating with other nations both friendly or not.

When other nations faced a similar a financial crisis as this, invariably the value of their currency fell. This compounded the financial pain. When Asia, Russia and Mexico had a similar debt crisis, their currencies collapsed which sent foreign investors to other markets. As confidence fell, so did their exchange rates which made matters worse.

The good news this week is that the world is running to the US dollar for safety which means we get the spoils. Heed my words: the good times are coming back.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

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6 Comments
  1. JJ,

    Oil is also falling, which is good news as well. And, at least from my perspective (which I doubt will be shared by many), with the stock market falling precipitously as it is that means there are tons of buying opportunities. The same thing with houses.

    Prices were nuts the last few years and the weak dollar, I think, was a significant reason why that was so. Hopefully with the dollar regaining some of its strength things will start to iron themselves out. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re out of the woods just yet.

  2. Anonymous

    Lindsay,

    Thanks for your comments.

    Hard to say when the financial crisis ends, but past recessions recovered slowly rather than quickly.

    The strong dollar will soften the blow for those who have money.

    My personal concern is the job outlook in 2009…it may not be pretty.

    JBJ

  3. Strategy Involves a Long Term Plan

    Let’s look at the dollar long term:

    The dollar is worth 4 cents from when the Federal Reserve started in 1913.

    I think we need to get rid of the current strategy, and return to sound money.

    “Paper is poverty,… it is only the ghost of money, and not money itself.” –Thomas Jefferson

    Google Ron Paul.

  4. Anonymous

    Truth be known, I am a big Ron Paul fan.

    The gold standard had its flaws but at least it had real value versus just printing more paper money.

    JBJ

  5. Good article. Yes, I agree there are some limitations to the former gold standard:

    1. The Government set the value of gold. This worked as well as setting the price of food in the great depression, or price controls on gas from 72′ to 81′.

    2. All the gold on the world is no where near the value of all the dollars they created (or borrowed into existence).

    3. It does not allow the government to artificially grow by the banks creating debt; to finance lavish wars (France vs. Britain, circa 1800) and overreaching foreign policies (Rome). Notice how both these points are a problem today.

    Perhaps my favorite Ron Paul statement was from the 80s when he gives an analogy of a bunch of people that wretch on an island; that cigarettes would carry more intrinsic value than paper dollars.

    Andrew

    P.S. John taught me people always read the Post Script.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhSsmzS7RTI

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