The Rise and Fall of Global Currencies

Episode Details

With the delinking of the dollar from gold in 1971 — the so called ‘Nixon shock’ — there were widespread doubts about how long the dollar could retain its international dominance. More than half a century later, the dollar remains the world’s dominant currency. But for how long will it continue to reign supreme? Barry Eichengreen draws on his new book, Money Beyond Borders: From Croesus to Crypto, to discuss what history reveals about the preconditions for global currency status, why dominant currencies can lose that status, and whether the forces that have sustained the dollar’s role — inertia, network effects, and the absence of a clear alternative — are weakening in an era of digital payment systems, blockchain, and central bank digital currencies.