Verified Document

U.S. Dollar Currency Term Paper

¶ … macroeconomics, the U.S. Dollar appears to be the currency holding the greatest global power. Indeed, it is the dominant reserve currency (Liu), now comprising 68% of global reserves, while just a decade ago the dollar accounted for 51% of global currency reserves. Because it is so globally prominent, even minor changes in the economy influences the power and performance of the dollar. It appears that recent market influences and fluctuations have in fact influenced the value of the currency negatively. Below such influences as imports, exports, markets and inflation are examined in terms of the American currency. It is interesting to note that some critics are somewhat gloomy regarding the future value of the dollar, as well as the American economy, while others see the recent decrease in dollar value as a positive trend. Heinberg for example points towards the recent decline in the value of the dollar, and the apparently steady faith of the global community in the dollar. This faith now appears to have been somewhat misplaced, especially if opinions such as those of Liu are taken into account. According to the latter, there is a discrepancy in the historically inflated value of the dollar that, according to the author, in reality has little of its increased value over the last ten years. To understand this decline, it might be interesting to examine some of the macroeconomic effects influencing the dollar from a historical viewpoint.

Historically, the extreme strength of the dollar was gained after World War II, when there was a decline in the value of the currency holding power until this event, the British pound sterling. At the verge of becoming a globally...

The first major influencing factor on the dollar thus appears to be the decline of the then major currency in the world.
The establishment of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, and the International Monetary Fund in 1944 led to fixed exchange rates in terms of gold. At this time the United States had the largest gold reserves of all the nations, which once again contributed to the growth of the dollar currency. Another factor is the fact that America was the world's largest producer of energy and exporter of goods, thus maintaining the existing gold reserves, influencing global prices such as that of oil and petroleum favorably (Heinberg).

Political factors, including foreign and domestic policy, further influenced the success of the American currency. Liberalism for example brought relatively stable economic equality within the nation, while in terms of foreign policy, the United States were able to maintain only the minimum of barriers relating to trade with Western Europe, Japan and South Korea (Heinberg). This in turn brought valuable allies as well as power for the United States in the Cold War. Furthermore the power of the United States translated to elements such as leadership by consensus through GATT trade negotiations and geostrategic Bilderberg meetings. These strategies eventually led to the ability of the main Western powers to economically and politically control most of the rest of the world (Heinberg).

According to Heinberg the factors bringing…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

Craven, Jill. "Dollar's fall boosts U.S. machinery exports." In Monthly Labor Review, July 1991. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Database: www.findarticles.com

Heinberg, Richard. "The Endangered U.S. Dollar." Museletter, Issue no. 149, August 2004. http://www.museletter.com/archive/149.html

Liu, Henry C.K. "U.S. dollar hegemony has got to go." Asia Times (atimes.com). http://www.atimes.com/global-econ/DD11Dj01.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

U.S. Dollar, Which Is Heavily
Words: 813 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

As the result of this, government cannot raise interest rates and may need to halt interest rates where they are. While lower interest rates allow borrowing, higher interest rates may actually serve those better who have already invested in bonds and securities. But if U.S. cannot move interest rates around for fear of further halting economic activity then dollar is in constant danger of doing further down. So the main

Strength of U.S. Dollar in Relation to
Words: 983 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Strength of U.S. Dollar in Relation to the Exchange Rate. There is no question that most people consider a "strong dollar" to be an overall good thing. After all, it just feels good to change one's U.S. dollars for Canadian ones, for example -- it makes one feel ahead of the game before setting foot outside of the exchange building. However, as joyful as one might feel in the initial stages

Value of U.S. Dollar
Words: 3662 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Down? The Value of the Dollar International Currency Exchanges Current Trends and Initiatives Impact of the Euro on Dollar Valuation Analysis of Current Trends and Initiatives on Dollar Valuation in the Future Up or Down? The Value of the Dollar: A Historical Analysis of the Valuation of the U.S. Dollar According to Michael Artis, Elizabeth Hennessy, and Axel Weber (2000), capital losses can be caused by differential changes in the value of assets and liabilities,

U.S. Trade Deficit United States
Words: 1598 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

S. economy, causing job losses that reach into the most technologically advanced industries in the manufacturing sector and affect every state, according to a January 11 press release by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission" (U.S. Info State Government, 2005). Also, these job losses not only negatively impact the population, but they also affect the business community. With fewer workers and resources, American companies will no longer be able

U.S. Balance of Payments
Words: 2725 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

U.S. Balance of Payments The United States balance of payments is an overall statement of all economic transactions between the U.S. And all other countries over a year's times (Oxford, 2002). A table of the balance of payments shows the amount of money received from other parts of the world and the amount spent abroad. These transactions are measured in terms of receipts and payments. In the U.S., a receipt represents money

U.S. Macro Economy Which Was Considered to
Words: 1238 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

U.S. Macro economy economy which was considered to be the world's largest has still not been able to recover completely from the financial crisis and resulting recession that hit in 2008. At the national level, spending increase to more than 25% of GDP in 2010, later in 2011 gross public debt exceeded 100% of GDP. The process of recovery for U.S. economy in the first quarter turned out to be weaker

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now