Sovereign debt of countries with mature economies, aging populations, and escalating social-welfare obligations is a sound investment;
Fiat currencies, subject to devaluation in order to stimulate exports or "repay" debt denominated in a debtor-nation's currency, are a storehouse of value;
The Euro, with no central fiscal authority and culturally limited mobility of labor, can survive sharply diverging member-country economic needs;
Governments have unlimited resources on which to draw to support domestic institutions and one another;
Because the dollar is the world's reserve currency, the United States is not constrained by the fiscal and monetary discipline required of all other nations;
The United States can conduct its foreign policy and military activities without fear of retribution within its own borders.
Eventually, it is reasonable to expect other pillars to undergo stress tests:
With a steadily declining percentage of world economic activity, the United States can continue to account for over half of the world's military expenditures;
The United States will not have to ration healthcare;
The social contracts that depend on working-age populations supporting retirees can survive declining birthrates;
With universal suffrage and largely uneducated populaces, democracies can make difficult decisions.
I have liked the world, with its convenient fictions, in which I have lived. I doubt that the reconfigured world will be nearly as privileged and comfortable for Americans like me. Nevertheless, I wish I were going to be around to see what happens.
