Janet Yellen predicts US Dollar crash . . . er . . . “decline as a global currency” . . .

Photo above - screenshot from the film Pale Rider, when Spider Conway takes his gold nugget to town. This does not end well for Mr. Conway . . .

When I first read the MSN link below, my reaction was . . . “WTH? She's baaack? Predicting economic doom and gloom? Doesn't Janet Yellen know that the president is facing a tough election in 2024?” Then I read more closely. The link is just a recycled Janet speech from several months ago. Before she was locked in Rapunzel's Tower and forbidden to let her hair out. Janet's warning is old news. That doesn't mean it's wrong, however . . .

Our Treasury Secretary warns that the US dollar is certain to “decline as global currency”. Oh my . . . is there anything we can do? Apparently not. Janet admits there is no contingency plan. When will this decline take place? Second half of 2024, in the runup to the election. Sheesh . . . no wonder she was locked up. I used to send my daughter to her room also, for talking back.

Janet's acquaintance with the real world, of course, is ephemeral. America's treasury secretary lives in a mansion. She is chauffeured to work each day, but not in an EV. As the holder of 4 legitimate degrees and 7 honorary ones, Janet is not obliged to have conversations with real people. Ms. Yellen did, last year, agree to cold call a bunch of America's richest CEOS, to tell them to toe the line on the federal budget. In this case, toe the line meant sign up for MORE budget deficits. The CEOs were told to call their congresspersons and tell them that more spending AND a higher national debt were needed. And in the 9 months since those spam calls the national debt has rocketed past both the $33 trillion and $34 trillion ceilings. One third of every dollar congress spends is now borrowed. Janet would probably tell us that this is the only thing we can do because America – like the US dollar – is inevitably declining.

This is sort of like deciding to max out your credit cards, when you hear that salary cuts and layoffs are coming. “There is nothing else we can do”. Your only hope is to spend as much as you can, as quickly as you can, right?

This “dollar is dying” article both hilarious and scary. The bot that wrote this (no human author is credited) tells us there IS a solution. “Buy gold”. Yep . . . I told you this was hilarious. But if you buy gold stocks, when paper assets (or electronic ones) start a death spiral, who knows if you can convert those shares in Newmont Mining to physical gold? And if you DO hoard physical gold, there are any number of (bot-written) articles that tell you what NOT to do: don't go out to the street with your fistful of Krugerrands and try to buy a gun to protect yourself. It won't end well. At the end of that transaction someone is going to have both the gun AND the gold.

Janet actually deserves an 8th honorary degree – in literature? - for writing a gothic horror story too subtle for the average reader to get. When the dollar declines/crashes, and nobody wants to buy US T-bills, then mortgage and other interest rates could be WAAAY past 10 percent. Your 401K will be in the basement. Social security – at least part of it – could still be there (we're talking in the 2030's), but most pensions will have been cut in half by inflation's relentless gnawing.

America might end up looking like Brazil, Argentina . . . or even England. These are all places that used to be wealthy. Until their currencies crashed, and only the people who own real estate had anything left. If you're not a landowner in those nations your only pleasures now are Mardi Gras, soccer, and pub crawls.

The people who got the hidden message in Janet's horror story are buying real estate. That's why a two-bedroom condo costs $500,000. And a detached home that was originally built for $180,000 a generation ago now lists for a million. With a crashing dollar this is a self-perpetuating feedback loop.

I'm just sayin' . . .

'A natural desire to diversify': Janet Yellen predicted an eventual decline in the USD as the global reserve currency — and she's not alone in making that call. 3 ways you can prepare in 2024 (msn.com)

badminton · 61-69, MVIP

It's all about international confidence. When the federal budget is going to be held hostage be a certain party threatening a government shut-down, that makes other nations very nervous. It makes the U.S. political system and economy look unstable. If we have another federal budget shut-down other countries are going to look for a more stable currancy.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@badminton i'm not in favor of a government shutdown. but I AM in favor of eliminating wasteful spending. with 800+ military bases, $2 billion each B21 bombers, student loan forgiveness, post office subsidies, ethanol subsidies, strategic peanut butter stockpiles, and 3rd generation people on welfare, there must be something we can cut, right?

badminton · 61-69, MVIP

@SusanInFlorida I think Congress should stop giving huge tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, then saying to cut the budget deficit we have to cut Social Security and Medicare. Military spending should be limited unless Congress passes a declaration of war. There should be an annual independent audit of military spending.

I'm in favor of funding domestic improvements such as healthcare, education, public transit, job training. i support student loan amnesty.

If by Welfare you mean general assistant, AFDC, that is a tiny expense. The real welfare is the huge bail-outs and subsides to corporations given by congress.