Quote from: jojo69 on August 31, 2012, 08:14:26 PM

Quote from: kjj on August 31, 2012, 07:00:47 PM

Quote from: jojo69 on August 31, 2012, 06:40:10 PM

Quote from: kjj on August 31, 2012, 05:48:05 PM

What the hell else are they going to do with their dollars?

what dollars?

there hasn't been a "dollar" since 1935

all they hold are electronic notations representing that they are owed federal reserve notes

There are no bitcoins either. What's your point?

And for the record, there are dollars. I've got one in my wallet that was minted in 2010.

"the United States dollar was defined as a unit of weight equaling 371 4/16th grains (24.057 grams) of pure silver"

that thing in your pocket is a debt instrument

I will attempt to stop being obtuse. I find it vanishingly unlikely that the United States federal reserve note will exist in 20 years, certainly not as a world reserve currency. What will China do with the value owed them? Choke on it or go to war most likely.

No, I promise you that the ounce of silver in my wallet stamped "One Dollar" by the U.S. Mint is not in any way, shape or form a debt instrument. It is really a dollar.

You are being pedantic about dollars. In everyday usage, the word "dollar" is very well understood, whether it be a silver eagle, a paper FRN, an entry in your bank's computer, or a treasury bond/bill/note. For what it's worth, I totally agree that most dollars are not really dollars. That doesn't change anything.

I would be amazed if the dollar doesn't still exist in 20 years. As fucked up as our financial and economic systems are, it turns out that pretty much the whole rest of the world is even more fucked up. China thinks so too. They keep buying our debt because it is the best place to park their export earnings. If they didn't think so, they would FOREX their USD away as they came in.