I always wondered that, thanks for clearing it up Gazza. Wasn't sure if this was really something that's happening, but apparently I guessed right.

The United States may be a country but it is not a SOVEREIGN country, the sovereign government of the USA prints the money and lends it to the USA. The USA is bankrupt and under ch 11 management by the true sovereign - the European banks and the Federal Reserve. US citizens volunteer to be sureties for this debt.

The Old Man, Gazza Excellent analysis! A report issued by the Fed, which was underpined by research, showed that the Dollar value was only dependent on liquidity and not based on the performance of US economic fundamentals. Basically the Dollar was seen as the world's money, and people wanted it for exactly its intrinsic liquid nature. Just like everybody wants to earn their national currency because that is what they can spend in their local stores. Here is where the finacial gurus thought they had it made. A world currency with a personal printing press out the back, to make as much of it as you wish. Basically you can be the richest one on the planet, controlling everything, your debt doesn't exist, as it is just paper you can make. However, those finacial blinkered goggles, left out the law and politics. There is no law to enforce a global currency and there is no political will to create a master counterfeiter nation. The plan falls apart, because there is capable reaction from other parties, and there is insufficient military might to destroy everyone in the ring and enforce a world currency. Even though attempts are made to destroy other currencies in a non military way. All is good for a while, until other world community players push back. These players transfer away from the Dollar gradually, still maintaing a good dollar value, and rely on the natural world growth, to increase other denominations, whilst throttling the Dollar. This eases the wold out of a problem, and gradually chokes of the counterfeiter without too much pain for either. The counterfeiter now has a choice to go back to an honest living, if he can. A soft landing and stability for all and a return to mutipolar checks and balances. There will be trouble ahead as the counterfeiter will react back, trying to collapse currencies and nations, but overarching G20s will then react to granularise the trade volume flows and stabilise the markets, so the Dollar induced volatility is slugged.