How Global Currencies Work: Past, Present, and Future

A powerful new understanding of global currency trends, including the rise of the Chinese yuan

At first glance, the modern history of the global economic system seems to support the long-held view that the leading world power's currency--the British pound, the U.S. dollar, and perhaps someday the Chinese yuan--invariably dominates international trade and finance. In How Global Currencies Work, three noted economists provide a reassessment of this history and the theories behind the conventional wisdom.

Offering a new history of global finance over the past two centuries, and marshaling extensive new data to test established theories of how global currencies work, Barry Eichengreen, Arnaud Mehl, and Livia Chiţu argue for a new view, in which several national monies can share international currency status, and their importance can change rapidly. They demonstrate how changes in technology and in the structure of international trade and finance have reshaped the landscape of international currencies so that several international financial standards can coexist. They show that multiple international and reserve currencies have in fact coexisted in the past--upending the traditional view of the British pound's dominance prior to 1945 and the U.S. dollar's dominance more recently.

Looking forward, the book tackles the implications of this new framework for major questions facing the future of the international monetary system, from whether the euro and the Chinese yuan might address their respective challenges and perhaps rival the dollar, to how increased currency competition might affect global financial stability.

Author: Barry Eichengreen, Arnaud Mehl, Livia Chitu
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 11/07/2017
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780691177007


Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2018

About the Author
Barry Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His books include Hall of Mirrors, Exorbitant Privilege, Globalizing Capital, and The European Economy since 1945. Arnaud Mehl is principal economist at the European Central Bank. Livia Chiţu is an economist at the European Central Bank.