In Loving memory of...........
The US Dollar! Yes the almighty US Dollar.
I agree there is nothing to be gained celebrating the demise of another entity. But when that entity gradually progresses to the level of a nonentity then of course there is no hard feeling when you celebrate its demise.
I have recently been kind of obsessed with the fact that historically all the "big" currencies (Fiat Money) eventually "die" after living out their life span. It has been reported in monetary circles that a new economic system (including new money) emerges after every forty years.
This has got me wondering: This mighty dollar that the whole world focuses upon, how did it get to this position of dominance in international trade? How come countries that have strong economic fundamentals still keep the bulk of their reserves in the US Dollar?
Is it the result of an unwritten global consensus or is it as a result of higher levels of manipulation whose power is/has now come to an end?
The US Dollar has been the most dominant subject of discourse on our economic landscape within the past two months. Topics ranging from devaluation, N1000 to $1, depleted external reserves, "buy naija to grow the naira" have dominated discussions.
So much energy has been expended discussing the journey embarked upon by our naira and its counterpart the dollar. Energies which if properly channeled could increase our cocoa production immensely leading to increased foreign exchange receipts that could help the naira chalk off at least another N40 from the Dollar
We have elevated the US Dollar to the point that it seems our national life is inextricably woven around it. We have made it look as if the naira gaining parity with the dollar will be the end of our problems.
A $1 to N1 exchange rate will only hurt us the more as a people. Why? One is wont to ask?
The reason is because we have not purged ourselves of the "consumerism" mindset that has defined us as a people.
Thus more money we have will only mean more purchases of luxury goods, more Nigerians in schools abroad and more Nigerians jetting out to india for medical tourism for ailments as minor as running stomachs.
It sure feels good if you have more dollars in your pocket when you travel out of the country, it sure feels excellent when you have a domiciliary account denominated in USD, of course we will go over the moon when hear that we have have external reserves running into hundreds of billions of Dollars.
What if....yes! what if we wake up in the midst of all this Utopian Nigerian Economy and discover that one day, our financial darling, the calamity preventing fool proof Dollar is DEAD?
Yes I mean dead! Just like the giants pictured below at one time or the other have all died?
What will happen to you when the Dollar dies (which is very soon) The US Dollar is dying and nobody can stop it from dying. Where will you stand financially when it happens ......to be continued!
P.S. please drop your comments here.
