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@InevMay (1) The only two globally competitive exports of the US (really, the Disunited States at the current moment) are tech and the dollar. Domestic US production (minus the dollar) is not even close to matching domestic consumption. Like, the US isn't cranking out enough high-margin widgets to barter for all the high-margin widgets it imports. It's trading printed dollars for those things. (2) In other words: the household demand mostly isn't real without the money printing. Would the US be able to support 40M+ on SNAP alone without the money printer (granting that the former is technically fiscal policy)? Extremely doubtful. Would the US have the stock market it does without the Plunge Protection Team, which prints to prop up stocks? Or the housing market, without the Fed buying mortgage-backed securities? It's all basically propped up by the printer. (3) Regarding the post-dollar reserve currency of states, it's likely gold. (For individuals, it's digital gold).