But a mismanaged dollar, he said, could cause gold to remonetize.

The sharp declines in Treasury securities prices and the dollar also caused heavy selling in the stock market.

And a soaring dollar was causing fierce competition overseas.

And a strong dollar, in turn, has caused foreign investors to take another look at their portfolios.

A declining dollar, in pushing up the prices of imported goods, causes inflation to rise.

"The dollar continues to be the wild card in this market and could cause volatile price swings, particularly in blue-chip issues."

Q. You don't think that the weak dollar causes inflation, but rather that it is an indication of too much monetary ease.

What he fears is that a plummeting dollar would cause capital to rush out of the United States, giving an extreme wrench to the system.

In addition to making imports more expensive, a falling dollar can also cause jumps in the prices of domestic goods and services.

But the shrinking dollar has caused some concern about prices of the children's and baby apparel in the United States.