Current Events & Trends: In danger: the status of the U.S. dollar
The American dollar has long reigned as easily the largest percentage of the global currency supply.
But its current percentage lead of 62 percent has been shrinking. Other currencies like the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and the Chinese yuan have been making gains. One credible authority predicted that the dollar's defrocking may occur in five to ten years.
The American budget deficit ($1 trillion plus annually over recent years) makes for dire consequences if the United States loses its premier standing in world currency reserves. Dick Bove, vice president of equity research at Rafferty Capital Markets, firmly warned, "If the dollar loses status as the world's most reliable currency the United States will lose the right to print money to pay its debt. It will be forced to pay this debt" (quoted in "Is the Dollar Dying? Why US Currency Is in Danger," CNBC.com, Feb. 14).
Bove went on to say that the U.S. Congress and the president "are demonstrating a total lack of fiscal credibility."
Other voices are also sounding the alarm, but hopes for a continuous American economic recovery and recent stock market highs have muted these warnings somewhat. Yet in the long term, other countries are seeking ways to diversify away from dependence on the U.S. dollar. Fairly recent quantitative easing (or money printing) to the tune of $3 trillion foments worry.
Michael Pento, president of Pento Portfolio Strategies, strongly stated: "It's a thousand times more important than a nuclear bomb being tested by North Korea . . . that we keep the dollar as the world's reserve currency, and yet we are doing everything to abuse that status" (ibid.).
Still one might counter: The American housing market looks much more encouraging, consumer spending is up and unemployment is gradually dropping. Yet Liam Halligan's column in The Telegraph peers deeper into analyzing U.S. data, stating:
"America's nominal GDP grew $140bn during the first three months of 2013. Over the same period, the US Treasury issued $340bn of new [sovereign] debt. Had that not happened, America's national income would have shrunk $200bn over the first quarter" ("Lack of Genuine Reform Is Sowing Seeds of Next Crisis," June 1).
The shocking potential of U.S. financial woes are but one symptom of America's national decline. To understand much more, read the online Bible study aid The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: CNBC.com, The Telegraph [London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: July - August 2013
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
