Image Credit: infowars composite 
A podium sign bearing the official seal of the US Treasury fell last week as Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen took questions from reporters at the IMF and World Bank’s annual meeting.
At about the 25-minute mark amid the 30-minute presser, a placard featuring the Treasury seal in front of Yellen’s podium fell as a Financial Times reporter asked about the US dollar holding its world reserve currency status.
“You’ve described calls for widespread tariffs as deeply misguided and the IMF today has warned that such policies will dent global growth. Can you elaborate more on the near-term economic impact of these policies, and over a longer time horizon, how concerned are you about the potential impact of the dollar status as the world’s reserve currency?” asked Times’ economic editor Colby Smith.
As Smith finished her question, the US Treasury sign fastened to the front of Yellen’s podium inexplicably came loose and fell to the floor, startling the former Federal Reserve chair.
Yellen went on to bash GOP nominee Donald Trump’s plans to fund the government using tariffs, arguing it would lead to high prices for consumers, before claiming she had “confidence” the dollar’s world reserve status would remain unfazed.
“It is important to the United States that the dollar is and remains the world’s primary reserve currency,” Yellen responded. “And the status of the dollar in my view is really grounded in our strong macroeconomic performance, low inflation, institutions, strong capital markets, rule of law and very deep and liquid capital markets.
“And there really is no other currency that I see as being a candidate in the near future to being able to replace the dollar. So I feel confident about the dollar status countries to keep buying.”
While Yellen expresses confidence, the Treasury placard falling mid-question has many suggesting it could be a bad omen for the US dollar’s reserve status.
In reality, the dollar’s reserve status is largely in peril mostly due to the action of the Federal Reserve.
As economist Peter Schiff explains, the US dollar became the world reserve currency because it was once directly redeemable in gold and backed by the US’s position as a wealthy creditor nation.
Powell's explanation of why the U.S. #dollar is the reserve currency is wrong. The dollar became the reserve currency as it was defined as a weight of gold & was redeemable in #gold on demand. The U.S. was the world's richest creditor nation with huge merchandise trade surpluses.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) April 28, 2021
However, Schiff explains the dollar’s reserve status has been gradually eroding due to reckless money printing by the Federal Reserve.
The longer the dollar remains the reserve currency, the greater the burden the rest of the world bears to carry the load. The more we print, the greater that burden grows. The sooner the world frees itself by dumping the dollar, the sooner the U.S. must carry that burden itself.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) March 31, 2020
Those who understand that reckless borrowing and money printing is bad, but believe the U.S. will get away with it because the dollar is the world's reserve currency, are in for a rude awakening. This is precisely the hubris that will cause the dollar to lose its reserve status.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 9, 2020
See the bizarre moment below:
