# What will happen when the US dollar tanks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 20, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895 "2007-09-20T18:28:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Corvid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Corvid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corvid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/1 "2007-09-20T18:28:41Z")
Riots? Martial law? Will manufacturing return to America? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/2 "2007-09-20T18:55:34Z")
I think that in the long term, manufacturing will return to the US. You’ve already got a tradition of education and technical skill. But it’s going to take some time to build up the infrastructure. And this is, of course, assuming that oil doesn’t become scarce and that long-distance trade remains competitive. I suspect that it’s quite likely that a lot of the new manufacturing will emerge for for local markets, not that people in Europe will suddenly be offshoring their stuff to Schenectady instead of Wuhan. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/3 "2007-09-20T19:42:08Z")
Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes… The dead rising from the grave. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/4 "2007-09-20T20:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes… The dead rising from the grave. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria. [/QUOTE] I want a second opinion from Mike the Archbishop. Define “tanks.” Has it tanked already? Where do you see it stopping? Frankly, I’m still trying to figure out exactly what the often-tested support level of eighty on the US Dollar index really means. It’s gone as low as 78.5 today. I thought anything below eighty was supposed to trigger a massive sell-off and a headlong plunge, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. I’m guessing it won’t, as most national economies still have too much wrapped up in the US economy and US currency to want to see the dollar tank in the way I think you mean. ---
**Author:** ![back\_before\_irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@back\_before\_irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/back_before_irony)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/5 "2007-09-20T20:32:14Z")
When they run out of money, they print more. That’s why we got off the gold standard. I’m serious. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/6 "2007-09-20T20:36:09Z")
Basically we’ll give up on this whole civilization fad and go back to being hunters and gatherers. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/7 "2007-09-20T20:42:46Z")
Oh, hunting and gathering, excuse me! Filter-feeding the primordial ooze not good enough for you fancy types, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/8 "2007-09-20T21:50:48Z")
To answer seriously, I think the to € is at a record low and that few investors outside the U.S. is betting on the . They want to see what happens in real estate. Since I’m not there, I can’t tell what the effects are. Over here, it means American made stuff is a lot cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/9 "2007-09-20T22:09:33Z")
My grandpa had a dollar tank. When he died, my dad got it. Mom didn’t know how to take care of it, and the tank rusted out while Pop was in Europe during WWII. He had to scrap the thing, and he started keeping his dollars in banks. Today, hardly anyone keeps dollars in tanks, and the dollar tank industry evaporated in the mid 1950s. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/10 "2007-09-20T22:33:55Z")
I think it was around 1986 or so, when the British pound hit $2.00. It was the result of overspending here, and a huge budget deficit. One question I have: are the Chinese going to raise prices through the roof? That would cut thier trade down drastically! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/11 "2007-09-20T22:50:25Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes… The dead rising from the grave. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria. [/QUOTE] That’s great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane. Lenny Bruce is not afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/12 "2007-09-20T23:03:38Z")
Just today the Canadian dollar hit parity with its U.S. counterpart for the first time in 31 years. I’m not especially pleased. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/13 "2007-09-20T23:11:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Just today the Canadian dollar hit parity with its U.S. counterpart for the first time in 31 years. I’m not especially pleased. [/QUOTE] Seriously! I mean, how am I supposed to do the patented old-joke “What is that, $1.50 American?” when the dollars are at PAR, dammit?! ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/14 "2007-09-20T23:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=back before irony] When they run out of money, they print more. That’s why we got off the gold standard. I’m serious. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Uh, yeah, but we aren’t running out of money, our money is losing value, not disappearing. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/15 "2007-09-20T23:51:55Z")
Actually, I just looked in my desk for some change for sodas and…its gone. Maybe the money IS disappearing!!! :eek: -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/16 "2007-09-21T00:44:17Z")
[Venezuela’s prepared, anyway.](http://prudentinvestor.blogspot.com/2007/09/venezuela-dumps-federal-reserve-dollar.html) ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/17 "2007-09-21T11:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Basically we’ll give up on this whole civilization fad and go back to being hunters and gatherers. -XT [/QUOTE] Not me; I’m gonna organize a horde and take up pillaging. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/18 "2007-09-21T11:18:37Z")
All the people who _didn’t_ make bad loans, overextend themselves, engage in unwise speculation or destroy perfectly good companies just to please overdemanding stockholders will suffer just as much, if not more, than those who _did_. Why we don’t take every one of these bad actors out in the street and slit their throats from ear to ear is beyond me. Kidding… ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/19 "2007-09-21T12:15:55Z")
[QUOTE=LouisB] Not me; I’m gonna organize a horde and take up pillaging. [/QUOTE] I may take up delivering mail. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895/20 "2007-09-21T12:19:57Z")
[QUOTE=Epimetheus] :dubious: Uh, yeah, but we aren’t running out of money, our money is losing value, not disappearing. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but how much value is it going to lose? Will we reach the point where it takes a wheelbarrow full of high denomination bills to buy a loaf of bread? Yeah, I know I’m indulging myself in some hyperbole there. I doubt it’ll get as bad as Germany between the wars, but I can’t help thinking we’re about to pass an important milepost. If we haven’t already. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-the-us-dollar-tanks/419895.md?page=2)