Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker recently said “it is more likely than not” that the Fed's next move would be to tighten, rather than loosen, monetary policy.

So, we now can say there is definitively no more a QE-plus or so on the Fed’s table, at least for now.

Mr. Lacker, when talking about trimming the Fed’s portfolio, said: “I think we ought to have an outright preference to get back to a Treasurys-only portfolio as soon as possible. That to me is an argument for advancing the date of asset sales … my sense is that the housing market could withstand our sales of our mortgage-backed securities portfolio at a fairly significant rate”

And, interestingly, after his speech, he commented about the dollar.

“I don’t think a broad movement away from the dollar as reserve currency is likely at all, but should it happen, I think we can survive just fine.”

If you ask me; I fully agree and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) statistics confirm Mr. Lacker’s view.

There isn’t an efficient alternative reserve currency system ready for years to come, period. The system will change, no doubt about that.

“When,” that’s another question.