[jeromec]

> Except that if oil is priced in dollars and you have a dollar printing factory then oil is effectively free to you.

That's not exactly how it works (although that edge helps keep our oil cheap). The more money that is in circulation (printed) the less value to each person that holds it. Imagine a game of Monopoly where everybody had as much money as the Bank; nobody would have much spending power. When this happens in the real world, such as the 90's in Argentina, in Zimbabwe, and elsewhere throughout history, it's called hyperinflation. The U.S. has uniquely been able to get away with excessive printing because of the dollar hegemony, a good credit rating - "backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. governement" - from having a stable government, and dominating the world economy. But we're not invincible... even Rome fell.

[hmmmm]

The USA has been able to get away with printing dollars because it sold things people wanted (an had to pay for in $) - the article alleges that this is no longer true.

[jeromec]

There is nothing so significant the US exports which allows free reign printing of dollars. The US doesn't sell it buys - in fact it's the highest consuming country in the world. Even if there were exports the US could sell there is nobody which can afford to buy significantly. That's the economic drawback of having the near top currency.