EXORBITANT PRIVILEGE

EXORBITANT PRIVILEGE
The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System

Barry Eichengreen

Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2011 by Barry Eichengreen Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eichengreen, Barry J. Exorbitant privilege : The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System / Barry Eichengreen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-975378-9 1. Money—United States—History—20th century. 2. Devaluation of currency—United States—History—21st century. 3. United States—Economic policy—2009– 4. Financial crises—United States—21st century. I. Title. HG540.E33 2010 332.4′973—dc22 2010018239

135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

CONTENTS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Introduction Debut Dominance Rivalry Crisis Monopoly No More Dollar Crash Notes References Acknowledgments Index

EXORBITANT PRIVILEGE

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
The