plane, you're writing nonsense. Especially the lines that you called "axiomatic." They're not only axiomatic, they are completely irrelevant to the issue.
Here's what you need to grasp:
1. All national currencies are commodities. That is, there's a market for them just like there's a market for lumber, wool, manganese, pork bellies or soybeans. Every fucking minute of every fucking day, for every fucking currency in the world, somebody is buying and somebody is selling. As we speak, it is virtually certain that some guy in Shanghai is selling Indian rupees electronically to some guy in London
2. Like any other commodity, the price of any national currency will fluctuate many times a day due to the law of supply and demand.
3. One source of demand for U.S. dollars - - and a very important part of the demand - - is the fact that the U.S. dollar is probably the no. 1 international reserve currency. Why? Because everyone needed them. Everyone, for example, who imported oil needed them. Because all the major petroleum exporters wanted U.S. dollars for their product. Everyone who bought anything "made in the U.S.A." needed them. Every foreign tourist planning to visit Disneyland or Manhattan needed them. So that any currency trader anywhere in the world needed to keep a stock of U.S. dollars on hand. He might not have needed a little stash of Egyptian or Peruvian currency, but he'd look pretty fucking stupid if some guy called up needing $100,000 U.S. and he had to say, I don't have any U.S. dollars to sell, would you like some Egyptian pounds? I've got plenty of Egyptian pounds." He needed U.S. dollars on hand (in reserve) because there was a demand for U.S. dollars. He needed LOTS of U.S. dollars on hand because there was a BIG demand for them.
4. If the major petroleum exporters decided (as Saddam was thinking of deciding) that they wouldn't sell their oil for dollars, but for euros, this would be a catastrophic DROP in demand for U.S. dollars and a corresponding surge in demand for euros. Anyone holding dollars in reserve would find a large part of his dollar holdings didn't have to be held. He needs more euros and less dollars. Anyone holding Indian rupees who would have bought dollars and/or euros with them now sees that he needs euros more than he needs dollars, the euros will be easier to sell, more demand now for them than for dollars.
5. Once international demand for the U.S. dollar drops (as it certainly would if it were no longer the international currency of reserve) every import costs Americans more. Take the home builder, your example: he has to pay for Canadian lumber, Italian tiles and marble, Chinese lighting and fixtures, copper wiring, even his domestic products have to be shipped to him with imported fuel running the trucks: every foreign-sourced import costs more in American dollars. He or his suppliers have to pay more in American dollars for every foreign import going into every home he builds.
If you still don't get the picture - - the homebuilder has to charge more for his homes. The clothing retailer has to charge more for his clothing. The gas station has to charge more for his gas. The coffee seller has to charge more for his coffee. What don't you get? Your standard of living up to now was based on imports you could afford. After now, your demands, desires and tastes will be the same, the producers of all your foreign imports will want the same price for them, the only thing changed is that your U.S. dollar will no longer buy the currency to pay for the imports that you were used to having. You will no longer be able to afford what you were used to having. That is the classic definition of a declining standard of living.
Sorry plane but I am not going to waste any more time on this. If you get it, you get it, if you don't get it, you don't get it. It is just frustrating because it is so fucking elementary.
