The One World Currency Movement has found renewed energy in the economic crisis currently troubling the United States of America. China and Russia separately have pushed for the creation of a world-wide currency to replace the US Dollar as the standard reserve currency. Russia even has a Nobel Prize winning economist backing up their plan.
Christians who believe in Biblical prophecy have seen this coming for centuries but were mocked and marginalized by the secular world. Then, when Europe adopted the Euro as a standard currency among member nations, conspiracy theorists jumped on board. Bogus pictures of a fictional “Amero” coin began circulating on the Internet, earning more mocking and marginalization.

However, the movement is real, and it is gaining acceptance. Epic changes, for good or bad, often take place after years of preparation. It may take decades for attitudes to change, but looming on the horizon is the specter of a single worldwide currency. Although President Obama offered a mild dismissal of China’s proposal, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner expressed some level of support for the idea.

It won’t happen this year. It isn’t even likely to gain any traction in this decade. But the idea is out there, and it is gaining acceptance among the power brokers of international banking.

When it does finally happen, what will the change mean to individual investors? If you are participating in the FOREX market, you will have to find a new investment vehicle. If there are no foreign currencies, a foreign currency exchange market becomes obsolete overnight.

Far more significantly, America’s position of leadership will be diminished severely if the dollar is no longer the benchmark currency for the world. Presumably, the world currency would tie back to gold, effectively returning us to the Gold Standard. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is entirely dependent upon your world view.

Globalists could not be any happier. Nationalists will see this as an affront to all they hold dear. Christians will see this as an inevitable step toward the end of the world. And Conspiracy Theorists will finally have their validation.

For the past decade people have been leveraging the equity in their homes for more credit.  Housing prices, and the market in general, crashed, moving the fulcrum to a point impossible to lift like a fat kid on a teeter-totter.

Currently, we are weighed down emotionally in these tough times.  Our money situation will take a huge portion of our time and thoughts, especially when the numbers are beginning to dwindle.  The mutual funds we have been nesting are plummeting, and our homes are losing value.  Is there anything safe left?

Yes, there is.  It is time to get back to the basics.  I recently wrote about getting a budget in order, and now it is time to get some leverage back into our finances.  The budget is our fulcrum, and everything is based off of that.

If you don’t have a savings account, first build a balance there.  My dad always told me to have at least enough to cover six months bills.  Even $50 dollars a month will get you there in time, just be patient.  Having this safety net will relieve loads of stress immediately.  This is a great strategy for businesses also.  I am slowly building up my business savings to reach this point as we speak.

Once I get enough there, I am going to save another three months of bills and place that money into one year CDs.  They have higher interest than normal savings, and by forgetting this money is even there will yield big interest rewards way down the road.

Now that we have built a very safe foundation to our finances we can sleep easily.  In fact, we can afford to have some fun.  My next financial move will be to invest in some stocks or aggressive mutual funds.  This is the same strategy I have employed in my own finances, and it is working wonders.  I am anxious for my business account to get there, too, one day.

Remember to reward yourself.  Once you hit a goal, treat yourself.  Six months saved, buy something from your want list.

Every time I check the news, I get bombarded with analysts that are terrified about the economy.  There are one thousand Chicken Littles running around sparking fear.  Let’s get them back into the hen house.

For starters, no one is certain about what will happen to the economy, and that is scary. Change and the unknown are very scary, and that is why suspense movies make you jump out of your seat. Currently, we are in one of these movies without a script.

Why should we not be afraid? The economy moves in natural cycles. The “Roaring Twenties” was capitalizing on the stock market. People were making fortunes off of their portfolios. Then the market crashed, and all those that were over-leveraged were left with nothing. The ripple effect carried throughout the masses, and the panic further hurt those doing well and businesses collapsed. This in turn resulted in lost jobs and ultimately the Great Depression.

Then the US auto and steel industry was insanely powerful. Millions of jobs and vast economic booms were experienced. Foreign competitors kicked our complacent butts and that industry collapsed again crushing the populace. Now there is something similar happening with oil prices and the housing industry which were booming in the recent past.

Again we got over-leveraged. Greedy companies were passing out credit as if it were in the “take-a-penny” tray. We were greedy and took the credit and bought useless things that we could not afford. Mortgage companies gave us loans that forced us way out of our means. The companies experienced a boom in sales. The GDP was up and everyone was officially winning.

Until…the rise in oil prices. Now, our paycheck to paycheck strategy was collapsing. The banks started suffering and wanted their money to pay for their expenses. Interest rates were raised on the adjustable rate loans, and people began losing their homes.  They got over-leveraged.

Why shouldn’t we be afraid? Every single financial crisis in our history has been overcome, and each time we have come back even stronger.

What are you doing to protect your fiancial futures? What advice can you give our readers?

When Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, there were a lot of speculations about the Iraqi currency. A lot of political, social, and economic changes have occurred since then, but what will this mean to an investor like you? The new Iraqi monetary system encourages foreign investments; in fact, the central bank is giving out licenses so foreign businessmen can open businesses legally. Of course, what most investors are counting on is the potential of Iraqi oil. Iraq is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, second only to Saudi Arabia.

These characteristics make the Iraqi dinar seem like an attractive investment on the surface. However, it is important to remember that whenever a country undergoes government changes, the new government can repudiate the old money; your investment can become essentially worthless. Another risk is that the new Iraqi government has the capability to inflate the dinar out of circulation. Finally, there is no guarantee that you will recover your investments on the dinar, even if the country does stabilize.

Investing in the Iraqi dinar seems like a good investment opportunity, but in actuality, purchasing this currency right now can be likened to buying a lottery ticket. Yes, there is a potential that the Iraqi government will stabilize eventually and the economy might improve. But as things stand right now, the risks are simply too high.

So, is buying Iraqi dinars a good investment option? Well, if you don’t know what to do with a bunch of money, there is little harm in buying a few Iraqi dinars. Right now, around 824 American dollars will buy you about a million’s worth of dinars. But if you don’t feel like buying a lottery ticket right now, better not buy Iraqi dinars as well.

On Tuesday, May 20th, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit determined that the paper currency currently issued by the US Treasury Department discriminates against the blind. As all bills are the same size and have the same feel, it is impossible for a person without vision to determine the value of a bill.

Additionally, the Treasury Department did not prove it was too burdensome for them to make changes to the bills. Therefore, the Treasury Department will need to decide what it will do next. (Hopefully, the whole decision making process won’t cost more than the actual change.)

In the meanwhile, the editors at Random Stock pondered options for new paper currency. Perhaps bills could have their denominations printed in Braille? Maybe bills could be sized differently based on value? On a more frivolous note, perhaps scratch and sniff money? How would you redesign the paper currency?

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