Talk:United States dollar

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This page talks about the "American Dollar" and the "American Constitution". I think it is much better to say "United States Dollar" and "United States Constitution".

The title of the page about this subject in the English Language Wikipedia is United States Dollar. It says "The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States." You can see this page if you click on the on the link for "English" on the Simple English Wikipedia page American dollar

Banking history[change source]

Beyond the fact that the entire banking history here is POV, does that really belong in an article about the dollar itself? The history of currency in the US is a separate article completely than the Federal Reserve determines monetary policy. Besides, the US hasn't had a stockpile of metal (the gold standard) since I believe FDR (although Nixon made it official). -- Ricky81682 (talk) 21:22, 20 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Fundamental economics[change source]

Quick question: Is this section on inflation and monetary value really needed here? Surely it should be off somewhere in a section on inflation, or something similar?


How Much Are Dollars Worth?

The real value of the dollar is determined as dollars are exchanged (bought, sold, and traded) with other currencies. These ratios are called exchange rates.

If too many dollars enter into circulation, their value declines relative to other currencies.

The dollar is vulnerable to a decrease in its value, or purchasing power. Inflation occurs when people spend more and more dollars to buy the same amount of goods. Inflation makes the price of goods rise, so that each dollar buys less and less.


As you can see, this is fundamental information that applies to all currencies, and unless we're going to include this in all the other currencies, I don't really see what it's doing here.

Will remove soonish unless I get a reason against doing so

ManicParrot 01:34, 19 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Remove it. We have too many articles that try to have everything in them. It belongs in an article on inflation, not here. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 06:09, 19 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

OK, it's gone. I will also remove the cleanup and neutrality notice. Kirvett 23:47, 10 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Constitution and Gold Standard[change source]

The United States Constitution doesn't allow the printing of paper money unless there is enough gold and silver to "back up" the paper money.

I could not find any part of the Constitution says that. ([1]). Article I Section 8 gives Congress power to coin money but does not mention paper currency. Article I Section 10 says States may not "make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." However, this would not apply to the Federal government. Am I missing something? Rljenk 00:18, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've heard people say things to that effect, but have never looked into it. Hopefully this might shed some light (I'm too disinterested in the topic to read it, but from the title and a quick scan it seems along the lines of the related comments I've heard in passing. I do believe that moving away from the 'en:Gold certificates' (1910s? '20s?), as well as Nixon's moving US$ further from gold[2], were both controversial/debated/etc. Freshstart 01:42, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]