A Grand Experiment

Anchor has been raised and the path beckons. Proceeding, the canopy starts to thicken and engulf us. The trail is made of soft dirt, not so dry as to cause dust and not to wet to stick to our boots. It cushions our step and allows us traction. Unencumbered by roots it allows for almost perfect hiking conditions.

While on the beach the other day, I caught a glint of something nestled in the rocks and sand. I never would have seen it if the sun had not been at the perfect angle and it was only for a moment.

As I freed the prisoner from its wet tomb I could see that it was a darkly tinted bottle. It feels empty but the cork a top its long neck has been resealed with what looks like a wax. It looks very old and remains unopened in our backpack.

Opening up just enough in some spots along the way the canopy allows us to scantly make out part of our little islands shoreline.

The undergrowth now gives way and leads us to an opening thickly covered by a ceiling of vegetation. The noise of the animals close by is strikingly loud but fades into background as we get started in our next location.

It used to be that most countries had their own currency and backed it with something of value, often by gold or silver. (or their currency/coins may have had gold or silver in it) This includes the United States whose constitution states that the government can not create currency beyond what is backed by silver and gold.

As the US became a more dominant player in the world and their currency was backed by something of value, other countries decided to either use the US dollar for their currency or peg their currency to the US dollar.

(Pegging means that as the US increases its money supply so would the country, keeping the exchange rate the same, ie. China pegs their Yuan to the US$)

That way their currency was backed by something of value and they could free up their gold and silver to be sold or used for other things.

The US Dollar then became the "World’s Reserve Currency"; a currency used and recognised around the world backed by a reserve of value. It used to say right on the US dollar that it could be exchanged for gold.

This gave the US a lot of influence as it could then affect monetary policy world wide.  Oil, gold and other commodities are priced and exchanged in US Dollars so most counties have to have US dollars in their treasury.

The US Dollar as the worlds reserve currency worked very well up until about 40 years ago when something was fundamentally changed and we started a grand experiment.......