Play Money

Play Money
Heather Graham

It’s time to break out your old Monopoly game. Your little blue or green notes are about to gain real value as your dollars become worthless.

According to monetary scholar Edwin Viera, every 30 or 40 years, a fiat currency loses its value when placed against a new or other currency. We can thank Richard Nixon for cutting direct ties between the dollar and the gold standard. Since the dollar was allowed to float freely from any controlling commodity, it now floats as aimlessly the lira. Come this fall, we may be sweeping up dollars like so many dead leaves from a tree. Ah, what will we do with them? Fill our bags full of them, I suppose, and add them to the compost pile.

Here are some currencies that have slid into Monopoly status since this kind of measurement in 1992:

Venezuela: 10,000 Bolivars= 1 dollar
Zaire: 5 million Zaires = 1 dollar
Russia: 10,000 rubles = 1 dollar
Berlarus: 100,000 rubles = 1 dollar

Fiat currencies not tied to commodities lose value in good times as well is bad. In times of global financial disaster, which we have never experienced before, one can expect that all fiat currencies except the top dog, simply fall a lot faster.

So the question becomes, of course, come say 2014, how many dollars will equal one Yuan? Talk about inflation. The government may have made grand political theater about raising the debt limit, but when you factor in the rate the dollar is plummeting, measuring anything against a “ceiling” is ludicrous. It doesn’t matter, it’s only for show. Are indebtedness to China grows daily not only because we have to borrow more, but our dollar value is shrinking at a prodigious rate. Eventually our bonds China holds will only serve as so much toilet paper.

Play money, you betcha!

Fairly soon you will be paying $30 -50 for your morning latte. Want to drive your car to visit aunt Emma in Tulsa? That’ll be $900 for gas, thank you very much.

Listen. Not to boast, but I know two millionaires. Really. If the Fed keeps printing money like it’s going out of style (and it is), their millions might come in handy some day when they want to buy the odd Snickers bar.

It’s not that the dollar is dying. It’s already dead. Our indebtedness to China cannot be paid off. It’s only a matter of time before they call in their chits.

Meanwhile, it behooves you to collect silver and gold, and to keep an eye out for any copper you can swipe. When the dollar hits bottom, there will be nothing of value except the old trusted commodities.

Who knows, maybe Monopoly notes will come in handy some day. There’s a hell of a lot of the stuff already in print in most households. Even better, the Fed can’t get their grubby hands on yours.

Mark my words. Monopoly money might one day allow you to buy a real hotel on Park Avenue. The dollar certainly won’t even if your name is Trump.