There’s a lot of chatter at the moment about dethroning the dollar as the world’s reserve currency (see Barron’s today, for example), with French president Macron saying openly that the world should “decouple” from the dollar. Of course, the Euro was supposed to be a rival reserve currency, but it hasn’t quite caught on because it has its own internal problems. I’m not sure that dethroning the dollar would be a bad thing. The ability of the U.S. to borrow massive amounts in its own currency is allowing us to be fiscally irresponsible on a larger scale for a longer time, making the ultimate reckoning potentially more catastrophic—when that day finally comes. A little dose of internationally-imposed fiscal discipline might not be a bad thing.
But count me skeptical that anyone is going to depose King Dollar any time soon. Do you really have confidence in Chinese currency? I didn’t think so. Anyway, the dollar has eroded some in the last 25 years, but still looks pretty secure.
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