In all of these discussions of the dollar and our fiscal proflegacy I find something missing, something major. We keep talking about our dollar losing its value to the Euro or the Yen. Does anyone out there think these currencies are particularly good places to invest? Its a relative thing in my mind. We are doing some very bad things with our currency, but none of the major European govts can get their act together with respect to debts either. France and Germany make a point each year of violating the Maastricht treaty (restricting debt growth to 3% of GDP.) Japan has an aging population and its tax base is horribly contorted.
I would just like to say that relatively speaking we may not be doing that badly. Ultimately with fiat currency, relativity is all that matters.