Newsweek's financial columnist Daniel Gross in the January 7, 2008 edition of that news magazine told about going to Starbucks in London with $8.00 remaining on his Starbucks credit card.  After he was served a cup of coffee and bought a newspaper, the waiter frowned as he told him he owed 40 pence more.

The shrinking dollar could not buy coffee and a newspaper with the $8.00 remaining on his Starbucks credit car; he owed 40 pence more.

In summer 2007 the dollar hit a 27-year low against the British pound and a 31-year low against the Canadian dollar.  That represents a 38% drop from the 2002 peak.

The sharp decline of the U.S. dollar has definitely threatened the dollar's former status as the world's reserve currency, where it has been since World