If the Dollar Collapses Will Americans Emigrate en Masse?
...You suggest some practical things like transferable job skills, mobility, diversifying one's portfolio in specific ways, etc. You also suggest those few astonishing ideas, such as have great liquidity, the very thing that has caused so many Americans their current grief and from which they can only hope to make a slow crawl back to sane levels of solvency.First, let me restate that I don't think the dollar will collapse. Instead, it will continue the current decline that is becoming almost as painful, with high oil prices and inflation in food and imports.You also suggest being prepared to move to another country and this one leaves me most astonished. Where would all these émigré Americans go, and what might they do there? How would our government and the host countries, whomever that may be, cope with large numbers of "all ye who abandoned hope" people? ... I can envision small numbers of Americans doing this immigration thing in retirement, but not larger numbers. If this were a realistic scenario, then I would have to conclude a doomsday scenario to be at hand and the possibility of this would then be impossible.
However, if a catastrophic dollar collapse were to occur, the U.S. economy would be hardest hit for two reasons:
- Its large land mass makes it highly dependent on the automobile and jet travel.
- Americans have become used to a very high standard of living that has been financed primarily by a $9 trillion debt, not by industrial production.
Therefore, for those who are seriously concerned about a dollar collapse catastrophe, I recommended increased liquidity to allow the mobility to move. I don't think many Americans are that concerned, and rightfully so. Even fewer would be willing to cut back on large purchases, liquidate most of their assets, and be prepared to move to a lower cost country. I don't envisions large enough numbers to concern any foreign government.
Comments
If we all have to emigrate en masse, I say we should go to Mexico! Do they dare turn us down?
The USA is massively in debt at just about all levels. In the same way that weight does us in at the personal level, debt does us in at the economic level.
The USA does not rate in the top ten countries on the Human Development Index, so there are plenty of places Americans could go to improve their standard of life, one of which is closeby–Canada. In order to do that Americans need liquidity. Therefore I agree with Kimberly, we all need liquidity to do what we want, and at the moment reduction of debt would be a boon to most Americans.
I disagree with John Raguso. As far as I am aware Mexicans are trying to emigrate to the USA. Were conditions in the USA to deteriorate so that Americans wished to emigrate, not too many countries would want them. e.g. Mexico already has over 100,000,000 people, it is unlikely to want more where ever they might come from, especially if those people had no money.
Flash:Our Gov. has taken away the American dream. Get your home paid off by retirement so you can sit back and enjoy the last twilight years. On a middle class retirement you can not afford the taxes.Taxes are so high that it has become rent.This is called indentured servant,only never ending.Our Gov.does more for immigrants than its own people.We will end up being a nation of people without a country.Maybe we will end up on reservations like what we did to the Indians.
When immigrants are given the right to vote we give away control of our own country.
I am one of those people that have immigrated to a foreign country.I have come across over 100 Americans here that all say the same thing! And that is that they can not afford to live in the US anymore!Our Gov. is giving our country away.We will loose our country without ever firing a shot.
Missing my America
… Perhaps it is better we be more friendly with our neighbors. Negotiate more with the BRIC (Brazil, India and China). They say that the Brazilian is very friendly with other nations, including the Americans. We must all maintain the optimism and trust in God. Let’s get out of this situation that we put our own ambition.
En masee migration = more opportunity for me.
Cya rats, watch me sail the siniking ship away after I buy it at a considerable discount and use non-union labor (ie non-entitlement labor) to make the necessary repairs.
Keep your blinders on losers…
Emigration is not as easy as it sounds. Take a look at the requirements for other countries like Canada or Australia. You MIGHT be able to get in if you meet their skill requirements and are relatively young. So that leaves older Americans holding the bag…
Ward,
I guess I hadn’t thought of that. Being a typical “ugly American”, I just assumed that other countries would take us. Something else to look into (if and when it becomes necessary).
Kimberly