Assume a Japanese investor bought 30 year US Treasury bond in 1985 when the US$/ yen exchange rate was US$1 = Yen 250. Based on a current exchange rate of US$1 = Yen 105, the investor has lost 58% of the investment...
Given that in a typical sovereign default the investor loses 50% to 80% of the value of the investment, the losses suffered are not far short of default. Despite "strong dollar" official policies, a case can be made that the US is in the process of defaulting on its obligations via a systematic devaluation of its currency...

The US has had the immeasurable advantage of being able to print money to pay its interest bills (unlike every other debtor in the world), but how long will this last - especially as the tactic of borrowing to meet debt service charges means the national debt is now accelerating towards $10 trillion? The dollar used to make up 72% of foreign exchange reserves; now it's 61% - and the weak dollar is attracting more and more foreign buyers for what he calls the "closing down sale" of national assets.

Of course, he goes on to say, no one wants a default - because the foreign countries that hold so much US debt would suffer immensely. They're all in this together. But the sort of adjustment needed to bring US finances back onto an even keel "will require reductions in US real wages and living standards on a scale that those who have not experienced it first hand cannot understand".