Every now and again there's an article that says the dollar is gonna lose its place as the dominant global currency. Sometimes people say cause of the rise of China, sometimes people say cause it's tied to Oil and Oil isn't gonna be around forever, sometimes people just kind of wave their hands and say cause nothing lasts forever. I don't know how accurate any of those predictions are (though I put most faith in number three, cause really, nothing lasts forever), but does something like this help or hurt the dollar on the global scene? Edit: For clarification, I don't know enough about global currency either to know whether or not it's really all that important who's on top. Though I'm assuming, being an American, having the American Dollar on top benefits me in some ways I'm unaware of.
Having the global reserve currency is really important. It allows you to print money where other people can't. The dollar is a long way from not being the global reserve currency, much further away than most people should worry about. It was the pound sterling, for example, until the end of the Great War. America deciding inflation doesn't matter is only important in the face of what other currencies do. If, for example, the dollar inflates 30% against the Euro, that makes American goods cheaper in Europe and European goods more expensive in the US. It encourages European investment in the American economy and discourages American participation in the European economy. All these things are good from an American trade standpoint. But if you have carefully calculated that a $750k 401(k) will allow you to retire at 65, it has just become the equivalent of a $500k 401(k). You're putting off retirement until 72, at which point you'll have to look at it.