What is a dollar worth today? Nothing.

The president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick suggests the new financial standard should be alas the price of gold.  

After four decades of faith in the international monetary system, money is worth nothing and gold again is considered to be the only measure of economic worth, thus today's gold rush.

With a median household income of $50,211 in 2009 Americans could afford only 36 ounces of gold.  To buy just 1 troy ounce or 31 grams of gold today we need approximately $1,400 dollars, and that is what gold coins of American Eagles and South African Krugerrands are worth.  

Since recession hit the U.S. economy by the end of 2007, gold has risen 91 percent.  The first to shed their meager gold for cash are the destitute and desperate, and other than their cheap labor they have nothing else to offer.

These are "anxious times" as described by The New York Times this week.  Investing in gold or other commodities such as wheat, cotton, and copper seems to be the answer.  

The caveat here is whether we as regular citizens can afford to "invest", that is, once our necessities are cared for if any money is left, assuming we still have a job.

Since there is no policy means to reactivate the economy by directing investment to national infrastructure –roads, bridges, the energy grid- a desperate measure hangs on monetary policy and that is just what the Federal Reserve did by increasing the dollars in our economy easing $600 billion dollars into the economy.

The mid-term elections confirmed we shall expect no consensus in reactivating the economy, the sole focus is on maintaining tax cuts for the wealthy and budget cuts affecting not simply unnecessary bureaucracy and their lavish benefits, but necessary services such as the offered by teachers, police and fire workers, along with taking away social security already earned by those retired. 

When the people lack bread politicians will resort to supply them with circus.  Nothing better than parading arrested immigrants and deporting them.  For the sake of bewildered amusement simply portray undocumented immigrants as "criminal by definition".  

The truth is undocumented immigration wanes because the U.S. cannot afford to lure it with a doomed no-longer-mighty dollar.