{"id":30698,"date":"2012-07-06T12:37:21","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T16:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/2012\/07\/this-is-not-the-end-of-america\/"},"modified":"2012-07-06T12:37:21","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T16:37:21","slug":"this-is-not-the-end-of-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2012\/07\/06\/this-is-not-the-end-of-america\/","title":{"rendered":"This is NOT the End of America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article by Investment U<\/a> <\/p>\n

My iMac was smoking.<\/p>\n

After writing a few weeks ago on why the U.S. dollar will remain the world\u2019s leading reserve currency, the comments from readers came fast and furious.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you stupid?\u201d and, \u201cHow na\u00efve you are?\u201d were some of the more polite comments. Some suggested that before long the Chinese currency would eclipse the dollar as the world\u2019s reserve currency.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I noticed that as the euro crisis escalated, where have governments parked their precious cash? In the U.S. dollar \u2013 now trading at a three-year high. For example, the U.K. and France increased U.S. Treasury holdings 26% and 30%, respectively, in recent months.<\/p>\n

Why are American Treasury bonds more attractive than gold, the Swiss franc, or the China yuan despite all of America\u2019s budget and debt challenges?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly not income with 10-year bond yields at 1.57%.<\/p>\n

My view is that America\u2019s strengths greatly outweigh its weaknesses, but it appears that I have more confidence in America\u2019s future than most. A recent poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs indicated that 55% of those polled believe that the United States will be equaled or surpassed as a global power over the next 50 years. A group of Chinese polled believes their country will catch up to America in terms of global influence within 10 years.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t think I sugarcoat the challenges America faces. More than half of my most recent book, Red, White and Bold: The New American Century<\/a><\/em>, outlines these challenges and how to turn things around.<\/p>\n

But when a country decides what currency to safeguard its billions, it\u2019s looking beyond the headline news of GDP growth, budget deficits, or the latest job report.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re looking at a bigger and deeper picture, and especially institutions that promote stability, openness, flexibility, mobility and transparency.<\/p>\n

Here are the 10 benchmarks I have come up with to measure America\u2019s relative strengths compared to other countries, such as China:<\/p>\n