They won’t confiscate it, but they’ll tax its use, prohibit certain transactions in it, demand its registry, etc. etc.
The article makes one good point which is that, because of its international reserve status, the U.S. Dollar is always overvalued. Despite our huge debts and massive Fed-inflation, the world needs dollars to serve as central bank reserves and to buy oil.
This overvaluation is, in large part, what keeps our exports uncompetitive and our imports high. There is also the fact -- take China as an example -- that, keeping the dollars they've earned instead of spending them on our exports, serves an important economic function for them.
As long as the dollar is the reserve currency, we will always run trade deficits. If the day comes when it is no longer the reserve currency, our economy will restructure quite quickly (given the proper political environment) to a more even balance between imports and exports.
Bookmark