Fair point, but there are important distinctions. The Iranian state that created those dollar reserve assets was overthrown in a violent coup in 1979 (one that included taking American diplomats hostage, as the old folks will remember). There was a reasonable, and widely accepted, position that those dollar reserves were frozen on behalf of the legitimate government of Iran that the Islamic revolutionaries overthrew. That's quite a different thing compared to freezing the assets of a major world power like Russia when there is no argument that the Russian government that deposited the assets is the same Russian government in power today. Even when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the 1980s we did not freeze their dollar assets. In any case, it's water under the bridge now. The U.S. dollar's status as the world's reserve currency was always going to end at some point; we've just greatly accelerated it now. Investors must take this into account when creating their investment allocations. A much weaker dollar is coming. |
Because the decades long history of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency was not going to change overnight. It's all based on how much dollar reserves other nations want to hold, and they couldn't "dump their dollars" all at once. BRICS (which comprises the majority of the world's population) is slowly but surely weaning themselves off of U.S. dollar reserves; China has been buying huge quantities of gold, for example. The recent sanctions against India -- ironically also tied to the U.S. involvement in the Ukraine-Russia conflict -- seems to have pushed India over the edge and into the arms of BRICS as well. Probably makes sense to increase your portfolio holdings of foreign stocks and other stores of value, such as gold, bitcoin, and other commodities. |
It's weird because I agree with your conclusions but the reasons seem made up. The issues with China and others slowly moving away from the US have been happening for a while now and have been accelerated by tariffs, etc. I see no reason why freezing Russian cash had a significant impact. So yes, I agree that this is all very bad for the US and will make us more subject to interest rate volatility, weaker economy, etc. But some sort of magical link to freezing Russian cash? No idea what evidence you have of that, other than RT broadcasts. |
Ironically, once the great crash kicks in, as the job numbers today show it will, I wonder how this will impact the voting public. |
If you hate Trump, you are more likely to have the feeling that the economy is doing poorly. This thread is all about how you guys feel vs reality. |
It’s really not. The economy is getting wrecked and you can’t see it. |
If you're watching real-world indicators that are not tied to the institutions he's trying to bring under his thumb, you're more likely to notice that the economy is doing poorly. Mortgage delinquency rates are up. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2025/07/12/mortgage-delinquencies-are-exploding-what-smart-investors-see-coming/ Auto payment delinquencies are at a 15-year high. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2025/07/15/theyre-skipping-car-payments-thats-the-final-warning-sign/ Consumer credit debt is at an all-time high. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/05/ny-fed-credit-card-debt-second-quarter-2025.html Student loan delinquencies are on the rise. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loan-delinquencies-are-on-the-rise-heres-why-184802465.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMZ8nDckTuG2N7dyCPxPoXT7xNVwAvJlax0omaYxLFX4RN3tCYfE4i0qGTi1C31eKzFydUlzYeVqTObu3uNat_C2WU4TQMcpCgjuZe1NT9MsvmwiXIs5j-bT4DYu3Qq2TKYe-FRICrJti9Ku73spqvg-YclInqEtikPKvk6zlSXX And of course, you have the very weak job report (not just weak: contracting, once the corrections come in). Of course, true believers will say this is TDS. So be it. |
of course, and if you love trump you're more likely to feel that the economy is doing well. it was the same under biden, when economic indicators said everything was very good, but political sentiment was able to convince people it wasn't. now it's the other way, by objective measures we've always used, the economy is deeply troubled and potentially heading towards a bad fall, and political sentiment is making some people feel like everything is fine. The difference is that when the economy is going well, it's not easy to convince people it's doing poorly, but it's also not THAT hard... people always want more than they have, and so people (as they did under biden) will go, "Yeah, it's true that I have a well-paying full-time job, benefits and so does my wife and my company is hiring, my mortgage is paid, I own my car... but it's a three year old car, and I can't afford a new truck! And everything is SO expensive! My kids want to go to Disney, but that WOKE POS company has jacked up the prices! Meanwhile, my boss says he's desperate for more immigrants to fill the vacancies -- why can't those jobs go to HONEST Americans? I can't think of anyone in my world who is unemployed and looking for work, but it seems REAL unfair that my boss wants immigrants for those jobs when REAL Americans can't get a second look when they put in their resume! This country don't make sense!" Trump fans can tell themselves everything is going great all they want, but when they can't get a job and everything actually IS expensive, it's much harder to avoid. Of course, they'll just blame Joe Biden. |
Nobody needs to feel it. The economy IS doing poorly. I'm guessing you're not looking for a job right now. |
+2 Though I listened to a planet money (I think?) episode on this and all the other potentials for currency standard still wouldn’t come close to the US and likely wouldn’t want to have that burden. |
DP: I don't agree with their theory and think the erosion of the dollar is very clearly linked to Vance's speech in Munich and Trump's attacks on our allies but .. the theory is that there are a lot of very rich very sketchy people around the world. Russians, Saudis, Qataris, Emiratis, Chinese, Indians, Nigerians, Brazilians etc that were using dollars as a safe haven to avoid both currency and political issues back home. The sanctions on Russian oligarchs made them worried that the same could happen to them. |
The job numbers mimic what I’m seeing in my own life— jobs that were supposed to be “safe” (including nurse practitioner, computer programmer with 20+ years experience, and data analyst with 20+ years experience) all recently fired (programmer) or have been unable to find jobs in a year+. The idea that we are pushing out immigrants to make more jobs isn’t going to solve for the highly educated professionals sitting on the economic sidelines right now. |
Bwaaaa haaaa! Never change, Fox News, never change. You truly are masters of spin:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/trump-cabinet-members-target-jerome-powell-weak-economy-august-jobs-numbers Yeah because rate cuts will stave off inflation. |
But you can, am I right? |
Except this did not have to happen. Biden left this country in decent shape. Trump has not only continued to crush the National Debt he's profiting every single time he does anything off of taxpayers. Instead of paying down the debt! He is not a buisness man he's an idiot. The US is going to a great depression because of the cult. UGH |