so now bernanke is on record as saying there will be no new currency, and no gold backing. given the current strength of the dollar, it's hard to imagine him saying anything else. with the dollar appreciating against everything but the japanese yen, even ron paul can't argue that the dollar is in decline.

but there's the not-so-little matter of those bailout and fiscal stimulus packages (almost $4.3 trillion and counting) and the resulting monetization of debt will take its toll on the dollar once the hedge fund de-leveraging runs its course. i don't know what the event will be, perhaps the us government losing its aaa rating, or china cashing in its treasuries, or next years $1 trillion+ budget deficit, but the dollar is starting to look like an accident waiting to happen.