jg, I worry about our dollars too, but there are a few differences between the US of the early 21st century and the old Weimar Republic. First, we’re still the world’s most powerful country by a long shot. Our manufacturing base has eroded, that’s true, but we still have a huge, growing population (unlike Western Europe which is pretty stable population-wise), and we have a great deal of influence worldwide via our network of military bases and a huge deep-water navy. The Weimar Republic was a crippled, broken country hobbled by the Versailles Treaty and the aftereffects of a lengthy, expensive war.

Our government’s foreign debt obligation is big and worrisome, however, it is comparable to the foreign debts of other western countries when adjusted for population size. We as a country need to get serious about rebuilding our manufacturing base and exporting high-value-add goods again and we can start reducing that debt. Imagine a presidential candidate promising to rebuild the US as the world’s leader in energy-efficient technologies! Republican or Democrat, he’d win by a long shot.

I have seen a lot of folks get burned (including myself!) investing for these “worst-case” bearish armageddon scenarios and I’ve sworn off of them for good. These are once-in-a-lifetime or possibly even rarer events, so they’re nearly impossible to time correctly. Also, a lot of very powerful people with a lot more money than you and I have a vested interest in preventing financial armageddon from happening, so it’s a fair bet that they will succeed.

Inflation is a worry, however the fed will be forced to raise interest rates if it becomes a problem; that’s good news for those with cash in short-term CDs. You’re not going to get rich but you won’t lose too much of your money either. IMO, gold and stocks are gamed too much by the Wall Street Pig Men to be suitable for small fry like me…