Cpt. Charisma on Nostr: >If my grandmother buys a vase off of Ali Express, after that happens, nobody has any ...
>If my grandmother buys a vase off of Ali Express, after that happens, nobody has any new obligations on any books anywhere. It is just a trade. They get the USD, grandma gets her porcelain vase.
This is the source of your misunderstanding. If you grandmother buys that vase, the seller *does not* receive dollars. They receive the local currency. You grandma and the seller are both satisfied, however, there are extra dollars sitting in the seller's country's banking system. The U.S. effectively owes that country the value of the dollars. What they do with those dollars effects exchange rates and interest rates.
This is the source of your misunderstanding. If you grandmother buys that vase, the seller *does not* receive dollars. They receive the local currency. You grandma and the seller are both satisfied, however, there are extra dollars sitting in the seller's country's banking system. The U.S. effectively owes that country the value of the dollars. What they do with those dollars effects exchange rates and interest rates.