What will it take to save the American dollar?

Question

Please don't write any offensive or funny answers, I'm very serious about this, I really would like to know.

Answer 1

I doubt it can be saved at this point, I wounder if the powers to be planned it this way. As an Economist I can say we have big trouble ahead.

Answer 2

a piggy bank

Answer 3

you spend it

Answer 4

Getting rid of the Fed. Watch "Fiat Empire" documentary for free on Google video. It's short and concise as to the evils of the Fed and the monetization of debt (which is the real killer). Email me if you have any questions.

Answer 5

The dollar will rebound on its own after a while....the good thing about the economy is...what goes down must come up.

Answer 6

That's a complicated answer to a simple question!

First of all, we need to stop importing oil and start using our domestic energy sources. We are the Saudi Arabia of coal. We have enough known, easy-access coal reserves to last 500 years.

We could convert that coal to fuels like diesel, jet fuel, and gas. The South Africans have been doing that for 50 years. Yet we refuse to do that and choose instead to import oil.

The other thing we need to do is boost the price of our food exports. Let the net exporting countries that hoard our dollars pay more for our stuff.

Third, we need to start producing our own durable goods again. That might entail removing impediments  and deregulating  industries that are vital to our economy. Regulation has been so debilitating that manufacturers choose to outsource production to foreign countries like Mexico, because its easier to go into business there and make the goods that consumers in the US want here.

This has, incidentally, caused many illegal Mexicans to go back to Mexico in a weird mass-reverse-migration because the jobs pay better there now.

Finally, we need to start finding new and technologically advanced ways to go to renewable sources of energy quickly.

Corn based alcohols are stupid. They use fuel to make the alcohol and the only benefit they have is to make corn farmers rich on fat, federal subsidies.

The latest tech innovation is algae based sugars produced from the emissions of coal fired electric plants and liquification and gasification plants. Those sugars with yeast and fermentation of the algae blooms will lead to cleaner additives.

We also need to turn out more geological and mining engineers. We will need them to exploit known reserves in the US of coal, gas and oil.

Answer 7

Its going to take a while to get the dollar back.  And there aren't that many ways to do it.

Now we could reduce the money supply.  They can reduce it by raising interest rates.  That sounds good for some because doing it would slow down inflation (or stop it).  However that may not be a wise choice.   There are too many consequences.  Mortgages would be difficult to pay and the economy could get slower-- so let's not use that option.

Another way that I think some have suggest is to reduce the trade deficit.  However, that would only make the dollar worth less.  Not as much money will be sold or transacted (not as much dollars will be spent).  So value will head negatively and decrease.

The only good way I suggest for helping the dollar get better will be to reduce our deficit and to start paying down our national debt.  This is going to take a long long time to do, maybe even decades (2 maybe).  This is how to go about it.  For the war we work with our military leaders to find a great strategy for Iraq to bring more security and cooperation.  We need to work with the leaders more and bring more peace in the area.  We've made progress and its a good sign.  Now we need to bring more process and get the Iraqis to pay more for the country's services (to take responsibility and do more), that way they can start being on their own for things and we will pay less.

We also need to reduce the Bush tax cuts.  The tax cuts to the wealthy should go and head out the window.  They do nothing to make the economy better.  Instead, the rich don't spend the more revenue they get from tax breaks and just add onto the deficit.  That's bad and makes our deficits worse.  It makes the deficit bigger and the debt is additonal deficit, so the more deficit we have the more debt we have.  We can keep the tax breaks to the middle class and poor because they can't afford a tax raise and it would hurt them- and with our new revenue from taking away the Bush tax cuts we'll be able to help pay off the deficit.

We must also be very careful with spending.  I'd have the GAO and a group of economists (of the major ideologies- except socialism, etc) get together and see where we are spending our money.  Then they should see where we are wasting it and make recommendations on what to do with spending- anywhere from poverty to education programs, we should listen to what they say.  Then we should act on their recommendations and cut spending where its not working and ensuring that our budgets will be in a surplus.  That is what's needed.  Once we're in a surplus we should start paying down our debt- and you're probably wondering- hey what does that have to do with the dollar?  Well national debt leads to a weak dollar...you see we have a high debt,  And its in the trillions.....  Its paid by us printing our dollars and we printed a lot of them-- and that weakens the dollar.  Nonetheless, once we start paying down our debt and not be reckless with spending our dollar will get back its good value.

Answer 8

Increased production of materials and goods for internal and external use, increasing employment opportunities, internal stability, managing a good monetary control policy, a good external foreign policy and drastic reduction of non-productive expenditure just as on wars.

Answer 9

better economy better exports...

Answer 10

For one, if we stopped manufacturing goods in other countries because of cheap labor, that would help. Maybe if we stopped borrowing money from other countries to campaign these stupid-un-necessary wars in the middle east, that's a good start too. I used to be pretty optimistic, but the older I get, the uglier things are getting. I don't like being a pessimist, but about the only thing that's gonna help the dollar from getting any worse than it already is, is by promoting tourism and that's about it. Let's face the reality here. We are not the super power anymore. Our time to shine is long gone. Sorry. It looks like it's China's turn now.

Answer 11

a raise in interest rates...