Without the petrodollar to sop up all the excess currency, the U.S. will find itself in a position where it has to actually compete for value rather than just printing its way out of debt. [...] The United States has finally entered a new phase in which it must, like everyone else, balance its budget.

Good article overall, but I don't think it accounts for what xhs frequently explains about how the dollar's power isn't chiefly due to the petrodollar but rather to the fact that the US is basically the world's consumer base, and so is the single most essential market for exporting economies, at least so long as China also remains an exporting economy (I hope I understand correctly xhs' point). However I'm unsure how much this impacts the tendencies discussed in the article? Does the US really need to balance its budget, given that it's role as the global consumer base still isn't threatened by any country?