The US since the 1930's has had the capacity to print/spent money. The ending of the Gold Standard meant money was no longer backed by anything tangible. Prior to that physical gold bars were moved around between country cages as part of trade/capital flows, finite/tangible. The US promised as part of ending that standard to 'act responsibly' but as ever opted instead to act irresponsibly, print/spend to buy sufficient military might to maintain its dominant position.
Similarly Germany has the Eurozone in its pockets. It can bet (debt) and if heads they win they keep the benefit, or if tails they lose they swap the debt over to the ECB, rest of the Eurozone, as was the case post 2009 financial crisis.
Germany and the US each support the others positions, little wonder. Crypto currencies are a potential alternative and as such I suspect one way or another concerted US/German efforts will look to try and kill off crypto currencies sooner or later (which includes it no longer being 'secret'), but the market is way too small at present to be a issue.
Could go back to a gold standard, but in preparation for that possibility China pretty much owns all of the worlds gold. If that was called then paper gold/derivatives would collapse. Even funds that suggest they're backed by physical gold could falter/fail. The only way to really hold gold is physical in-hand, but rebalancing that is expensive (spreads), so some paper-gold (funds) risk needs to be tolerated for more cost efficient rebalancing.
Fiat currencies will continue to behave as they have IMO
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but where there's expansion into the more India style of currency distrust. Hold other assets for store of wealth, only converting into domestic currency at/near the time it is intended to be spent and where that store of wealth is physical/portable/secret (when a state knows where all your wealth is it is no longer your wealth, but a loan, open to be returned/called (confiscated) at any time the state might choose).
I still hold no crypto currency (nor really know much about it at all), instead I prefer 50/50 US stock/gold as my primary 'currency'. Converting some of that each month into Pounds - around enough for the months spending.
This is in US$, that in turn the Pound has broadly relatively declined againstYet another theft is taxation. When interest/gains just pace inflation then taxation of those gains !!! When inflation is driven high then that's another !!!
http://warrenbuffettoninvestment.com/ho ... -investor/The arithmetic makes it plain that inflation is a far more devastating tax than anything that has been enacted by our legislatures. The inflation tax has a fantastic ability to simply consume capital. It makes no difference to a widow with her savings in a 5% passbook account whether she pays 100% income tax on her interest income during a period of zero inflation, or pays no income taxes during years of 5% inflation. Either way, she is “taxed” in a manner that leaves her no real income whatsoever. Any money she spends comes right out of capital. She would find outrageous a 120% income tax, but doesn’t seem to notice that 6% inflation is the economic equivalent.
Driving inflation is as easy as printing/spending money, benefits the 'counterfeitor' at the expense to others via the devaluation of all other notes in circulation.