In a Wall Street Journal front page story last week, it was reported that over half of the dollars currently in circulation are presently faciliating commerce outside the United States. Of the $1.79 Federal Reserve notes in circulation, it's speculated that over $900 billion aren't here.
That they're outside the U.S. is in many ways a statement of the obvious. Money's only purpose is as a measure used to facilitate the actual exchange of real goods and services. And while the dollar has demerits related to instability, it's broadly trusted around the world by producers. Translated, unlike just about every other currency in existence, a dollar is exchangeable for market goods just about anywhere.
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