Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, has raised concerns about the stability of the U.S. dollar in a recent tweet. He blames the dollar’s present position on decisions taken many years ago, the primary one being President Nixon’s decision to take the dollar off the gold standard in 1971.
According to Kiyosaki, since then, the US dollar has been kept aloft by government bonds and treasuries, which are as good as fake money, in his view. The renowned author argues that this shift has had long-term effects on the U.S. economy.
Prior to 1971, the US dollar was pegged to gold and thus had a stable value benchmark than other currencies in circulation. However, President Nixon’s decision to stop convertible dollars into gold put an end to this pegged exchange rate system and made dollar a fiat currency.
As a result, the value of the dollar is now tied to market sentiment and government debt. Kiyosaki has condemned this move, noting that it for further eroded the value of dollar and plunged it on US Treasuries and Bonds.
Kiyosaki considers the shift to be a turning point, pointing out that after the Federal Reserve started printing money to deal with the debt, the dollar’s purchasing power continued to decline. He said that the availability of money in the economy through printing has led to inflation, which has reduced the value of the national currency and made the products and services expensive.
The case for alternative assets
Kiyosaki noted that inflation makes saving in U.S. dollars more and more dangerous. With the increase in prices, the purchasing power of money decreases and hence the value of money in terms of savings reduces over time. He states that the conventional savings account is not suitable for wealth preservation in this environment.
However, Kiyosaki encourages investors to search for other investment opportunities that won’t be greatly affected by inflation. He pointed out that gold, silver and Bitcoin are much safer to hold for wealth preservation purposes.
For instance, gold recently hit record highs, which, according to Kiyosaki, means that precious metals will hold their value much better than the dollar in times of economic turmoil. Likewise, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are considered to be inflation protection tools. Kiyosaki recommends diversification with gold and silver as well as cryptocurrency to shield it from economic collapse.
Kiyosaki is a well-known critic of the US financial system that he considers to be built on debt. He also points out that market volatility is also a result of the Federal Reserve’s continued reduction of interest rates and the government’s rising debt.
Pointing to the 2008 Great Recession, Kiyosaki warns that current economic trends could lead to a similar crisis if not addressed. According to him, if there is no drastic shift in the monetary policies, the US economy could witness more fluctuations.
