George Soros, one of the wealthiest men on the planet, is hosting a meeting this Friday April 8-11th at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.  There is significance to the meeting place; Bretton Woods is the exact location where the first negotiated monetary system intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states was created.  Thus the question is this: What exactly is this meeting about?

George Soros has long been known for his left-wing ideas but some say that this meeting takes it too far.  This meeting is costing Soros $50 million (through one of his institutes) and is intended to discuss the restructuring of the world monetary and banking system at the cost of the American people.  The reason it costs us is because any loss as the world’s reserve currency will dramatically affect the value of the US Dollar and its purchasing power.

George Soros had this to say: “While international cooperation on regulatory reform is difficult to achieve on a piecemeal basis, it may be attainable in a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order.  A new Bretton Woods conference, like the one that established the international financial architecture after World War II, is needed to establish new international rules…reconstitute the International Monetary Fund (IMF)…[and] to reform the currency system…”

Mr. Soros comments that the international monetary system “cannot survive in its present form,” and that the American role should be “re-established…in a more acceptable form.”  This only further exacerbates the fact that he believes US Dollar dominance needs to be shifted.

Only after the meeting is over will we really know what was discussed and the ramifications of the content.  However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the US Dollar is losing its power.  Soros’s meeting only highlights an underlying ongoing conversation.  Check out the IMF’s announcement on February 10th on a new world reserve currency.

Whether or not Soros is a major influence in an upcoming change or not is inconsequential.  What is important, at least to those of us that live in the United States, is how long can we maintain our status as the reserve currency such that we can maintain some resemblance of our current standard of living.  One way to preserve your purchasing power through a loss of value in the Dollar is to acquire precious metals: buy gold coins, silver coins and bars.