"By Martin Webber
BBC World Business Report editor
The economy took a backseat to security as the US went to the polls
For much of 2004, the world has looked on as the US dollar dropped in value against the euro and the pound.
In the first of a two-part review of the year, World Business Report asks if the greenback's days as the top global currency are numbered?
In the world's biggest economy, most attention centred on the fiercely fought Presidential election.
The re-election of George Bush for four more years meant no radical shift of economic priorities for companies and markets to cope with.
But what was highly unusual about this US Presidential race was that the economy failed to top voters' concerns. Three years after the attacks on the World Trade Center, it was security that loomed largest in voters minds.
In any case, some of Americans' fears about the US economy did ease during the past year. At the start of 2004, the US revival had been dubbed the "jobless recovery", but - as the year wore on - job creation did accelerate, even if many of the new jobs were part time.
Fading currency
However, as economic concerns took a backseat inside America, outside the country it was a different story.
Some economists are predicting the dollar will fall further
Concern about where the US economy was heading led to a sharp fall in the value of the dollar, heralding suggestions that the dollar is on the way out as the global top currency.
The last century saw the demise of gold as the world's key store of value. It was replaced by the dollar as the asset most central banks around the world wanted to hold.
But since April this year, the dollar has slid by 12% against the euro and by 10% against the pound.
Not surprisingly, tourists around the globe are now regularly being asked for payment in euros rather than dollars."
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HOLY COW BATMAN....Wait, Bushy says the economy is doing great....
and said that last year...how can this be?
HE WOULDN'T LIE TO US WOULD HE?