Over the past several decades, the U.S. dollar and other major currencies around the globe have been continually devalued, but they have still remained stable enough for trade to flourish and for the world to enjoy an unprecedented era of prosperity. However, that all may now be changing. Many analysts now fear that the new $600 billion program of quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve may set off a round of “competitive devaluations” across the globe that could precipitate a global currency crisis. If that happens, it might not just be the death of the dollar that we are talking about. Instead, we could potentially see the death of fiat currencies worldwide in the coming years. Under the current system, nations have a built-in incentive to devalue their national currencies because it gives them a competitive advantage in world trade. In fact, quite a few countries have been doing this for years, but in 2010 currency devaluations have become a “hot button” issue and the extreme actions taken recently by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other global central banks have pushed us to the brink of a global currency war. (Read More...)