Deficit woes likely to dog dollar for some time

From Forbes.com

It's been an awful week for the dollar, which sank to its lowest level of the year Friday, and with markets now focused on a trillion-dollar-plus U.S. deficit, the greenback's sharp slide is not over yet.

Unlike in the recent past, when investors terrified of a global financial meltdown sought safety in Treasury bills and other dollar assets, the greenback is now being driven by its own fundamentals, and all of them look fairly bleak.

Massive spending and unorthodox monetary policies over the last year have the United States looking down the barrel of a $1.75 trillion deficit. That reality took on a new relevance this week when Standard & Poor's said it may cut Britain's AAA credit rating because of soaring public debt, prompting fears that the United States could be next.