Everyone knows that the American economy is not where it was
when it was at its height, but few people know exactly where the economy is
currently heading if we don’t change what were currently doing. There is a lot
of talk about bringing in a one world currency that will help stabilize the
world’s economy. People are seeing the price of common goods rising at high
rates. The United States continually goes further and further into debt. What
are we doing to get out of this crisis?
As of now, it seems the like printing of more money is one
quick fix that the government has chosen. This may seem like a good idea to
make money to pay off our debt, but where does that leave our dollar? Currently
our dollar is in the decline as far as worth goes. So far, this inflation has
not been seen completely in the value of the dollar, but if the government
keeps printing out money and putting money into the economy without having a
solid way of getting it back, major inflation is inevitable. Inflation happens
when nations print money that is not backed by their growth in the output of
goods and services. According to Gilbert Muponda of The New
Zimbabwe, this is what happened to Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. He was
printing off money to help pay for the wars that he wanted to win. He was
unable to back any of the money he printed for the wars and saw the
consequences with hyper-inflation. The United States may never see anything that
drastic but inflation could lead to a lot of other things.
According to the CPI-U, which figures out the inflation rate
for the United States, we increased 2.68 percent from 2010 to 2011. This
number, according to economist John
Williams, should be around ten percent if it was still done the same way
that it was in 1980. This inflation is seen in many different ways in the
United States. The prices of consumer goods have been skyrocketing. Look at the
prices of bread and milk and coffee based on what they used to be. An easy one
to look at is gas prices. Everyone complains about the prices of gas. Did you
realize that just ten years ago the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.45.
In 2011, the average price was $3.42. Also, the prices of gold and silver are
going up. The increase in the prices of these two metals shows that people are
losing faith in their dollars.
The loss of faith in the US dollar is not just happening in
the United States though. Secret meetings have been held by many Middle Eastern
countries along Russia, China, and France to change the currency with which oil
will be traded. You may think that this would not be a very big deal, but this
will cause the price of oil to increase at an even higher rate than it already
is. The oil prices in America are so cheap because oil is traded in our
currency. In England, gas prices have reached almost ten dollars a gallon. In
the near future, if trade of oil stops in the US dollar, our gas prices could
also reach prices around that amount.
The United States dollar is under a lot of scrutiny right
now by people who are both in our country and around the world. The United
States needs to do something immediately. Our government needs to stop printing
out money and start figuring out a budget that can help the United States
become an economic power again. Right now, the government has tried to cut
budget spending, but they just can’t figure anything out. Maybe a line item
veto would be an idea to help cut our budget. Whatever it takes, we need to get
it done, or our life will keep getting harder in the United States. We need to make sure that our government does not continue to print bills that we can not back up or we will soon cease to be a leading country in the world
The decline of the US dollar is one of the most overlooked economic problems in my opinion. People do not always realize that we cannot just print more money to pay off debts. For many years the United States has had control over world currency and has been able to pay for things such as oil with the dollar. The United States is the oil industries biggest customer so it only makes sense. A problem for the United States is that we are at the mercy of the oil companies. Decisions, such as changing the means of currency, will truly be detrimental to American's and their bank accounts as well as the economy.
ReplyDeleteSince oil is one of the biggest imports in America, it should be one of the biggest concerns with the decline of the dollar. I believe the best way to increase the rate of the dollar and improve the economic state of America, is to begin only using oil drilled for in the United States. There is an abundance of oil which our country is just sitting on while we are being overcharged by oil companies. The oil in the United States could support our country for many many years. By the time it would run out, if ever, there will be new energy sources.
By drilling in our own backyard we can boost the economy and save America millions each year. This would even make America more independent and would put us out of control of oil industries. By drilling in places like Alaska and off the shore, America would be able to support itself. Oil refineries could be built, new companies could begin, and Americans would see a large increase in job opportunities. This cannot happen because of the large influence of the environmentalist supporters influencing government. There are countries half way across the world drilling fifty miles off the United States coast. The United States however is not even drilling there because environmental acts are preventing it. This is completely absurd and has to stop for America to become the economic power it used to be. It seems that such a complex issue could have such a simple solution with some common sense. Regardless of the solution America needs to come up with some revolutionary ideas.