If our current money system ever failed, What system of exchange would work?
541102
If our currency were to fall. Every other country in the world would collapse too. I truly think bartering with items would replace it.
650699
It is difficult enough to keep all the checks processed and delivered . The out-of country banks cant turn in daily work  for check processing because that is very expensive delivery costs and it would take a meeting of the top economists from every country with a currency coming together and trying to explain each countries economic particulars to each other , trying to compare notes to figure out a simple way to combine Banking Laws into one.\nI myself have been hoping that the countries would come to some kind of worldwide system agreement to place foreign embassy ATM locations at  all foreign embassies with currency exchange ability able to exchange currency there into whatever currency they need and to send payments abroad using wiring money methods. Does anybody know if there are any new ATMs on the horizon .there are certainly enough ipods, blackberrys , etc..
660342
Dollar Diplomacy. Started by President Taft. But the U.S. doesn't/can't just keep printing more money. It doesn't work like that. I wouldn't call it "fooling other countries" though. It's more like investing in what the U.S. wants.
425387
Historically, countries have overprinted their currency, leading to devaluation, and often, dire economic crises such as depression.  A careful balance must be struck to ensure that the money in circulation does not adversely impact the economy.
1102521
Absolutely not.  If the government confiscated every ounce of gold in the entire world, gold would be worth $5000 an ounce.  No government today can say that its currency is backed by any such standard, nor has our government been capable of doing so for at least 60 years.
784090
This question belongs to 'Economics'. \nThe answer is 'no' because it may lead to market failure.
160084
It used to. But the United states is on a non-fiat monetary system. The gold reserve is meaningless and is not backing the money. The government is telling you that it is worth something and can be used for payments and debts.
603150
We have different currencies because countries wish to maintain control of their own finances. The state of the  national currency is an important part of a nation's sovereign power.\n\nHow it works is really simple in principle. Currency is just another commodity for which people have varying needs and for which they are willing to pay varying amounts. Absent currency controls the value of a dollar, euro, yen or whatever is determined by what amount of other currencies people are willing to pay for them.
3215
I would consider an alternative.  Should the Iraqi experiment (this being another attempt to stimulate it into a democracy) succeed in terms of stability, what other economies, and thus their currencies, will benefit?  I would select a proxy currency that is more liquid, such as that of Lebanon or Egypt or Israel, all of which would substantially benefit from greater peace in the region.
1107095
It would be mildly deflationary because there would be less money in circulation.
787
no, it would be a terrible idea, even though the euro is doing good despite the fact that some of the nations that joined had poor economies, the majority of the economies that joined were well standing by themselves.  If we made a world currency than we would have to take into account the poor economies that would join (i.e. africa, mexico, most of south america etc..) \nwhich would drag down the value of the global currency and hurt everyone in the end.
1063538
Yes.  It is difficult to orchestrate but in time things will be better integrated and the economies will benefit.  Having one currency in most EU countries is already a huge success.  A united Europe is a good answer to the US's power.
73553
The value of money is relative. If the government started printing excess money, it would drive down the value of our money relative to the value of goods and relative to the value of other currencies around the world.\n\nNot only would we fail to reduce our debt, but we would destabilize our economy.
223336
Money is only as good as the willingness of others to accept it as a medium of exchange.  So some countries could print money and it wouldn't buy anything.  That was the case of the United States when it was founded.  There were so much US Currency outstanding that it was said to be "Not worth a Continental".  Alexander Hamilton did a lot of reading and concluded that a central bank could borrow money, issue bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the fledgling nation (backed by the way by the power of taxation), and then issue currency in reasonable amounts against that.  He organized the first central bank in the United States, which, in time, evolved to the Federal Reserve.  As a result our currency has, for a long time, been one of the world's standard currency, so-called "sound as a dollar".  \n\nNow, with the United States spending more than it produces, we generate multi-billion dollar balance of payments deficits, especially with China.  Invevitably the value of the Chinese currency will increase and the value of the dollar will decrease.  The increased demand for Chinese goods and services will result in more dollars chasing that demand and therefore, the relative price of those goods and services will increase by the value of the dollar decreasing.\n\nSo, yes, countries can print money, but it is worthless unless other countries will accept it.  And it is not very worthwhile inside the country unless people accept it as a medium of exchange.  So they borrow hard currency like dollars or euros from the World Bank to finance their development and infrastructure.
138878
Because there is not enough stored gold to guarantee the value of the currency in circulation. That is why the US went to the silver standard. Then we found out that there is not enough silver to guarantee the value of the currency in circulation. That is why US currency is now backed by "the full faith and credit of the United States."
9377
The present denominations of our currency in production are $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. The purpose of the United States currency system is to serve the needs of the public and these denominations meet that goal. Our present currency in circulation satisfies the public at large, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has no plans to change the denominations in use today. (excluding coins)
159477
Just think, the money we use is "fiduciary" money. The key word here is fiduciary, since the value of the money we hold is based on the trust people have that the central bank will keep faith (fides) and pay as promised. In short, money has value because we believe it does.\n\nSo technically, if you could reproduce the manufacturing process and produce a dollar bill that is 100% identical to that of the government, the only real difference is that your bill is illegal, while the government's is legal. That's because the government is the only entity that is "allowed" to print paper money. Let's face it, if everyone could legally print money, it would indeed lose all its value as a means of exchange.\n\nThere really is no other difference.