Doubts about the international dominance of the dollar are only growing amid worries about tariffs, political dysfunction, and fraying international alliances. Will the dollar continue to reign supreme? In Money Beyond Borders, the leading authority on international currencies, Barry Eichengreen, puts the dollar鈥檚 prospects in deep historical perspective by chronicling the entire history of cross-border currencies, from the invention of coins in the seventh century BCE to the cryptocurrencies of today and the central bank digital currencies of tomorrow.
Money Beyond Borders recounts how Greek and Roman coins became the first true international currencies. It tells how the Florentine gold florin became the 鈥済reenback of the Renaissance,鈥� and how it was succeeded by Spanish silver and a Dutch fiat currency. The book explains why the British pound dominated the international economy in the nineteenth century, why the dollar rose to the top during World War II, and why the dollar has survived predictions of the imminent loss of its preeminence since the 1970s.
The long history of international currencies shows that the same factors that encourage their widespread use eventually lead to their abandonment. Money Beyond Borders makes a powerful case that the dollar is now on the downside of this cycle, and it considers who the winners and losers will be when there is flight away from the greenback. Revealing important patterns in the life cycles of international currencies over the past 2,500 years, the book offers valuable lessons and insights about how currencies rise鈥攁nd why they fall.
Awards and Recognition
- A Financial Times Summer Read
- A Chatham House Summer Read
- One of The Week's Best Business 快色直播
"A learned and highly readable history of the making and breaking of international currencies. . . . a fine book."鈥擝rett Christophers, Financial Times
"Barry Eichengreen . . . draws a telling parallel in his latest book between the currency of Trump’s America and that of Nero’s Rome."鈥擩ohn Plender, Financial Times
"Accessible to a generalist audience, the book aims to elicit policy lessons from a long sweep of history. The author synthesizes a growing body of literature on classical economic history as well as the considerable research on 18th century financial history, notably that of Amsterdam. The chapters on the 20th century will be familiar to readers of Eichengreen’s other research on this era, but the cycles of history are worth revisiting. US President Richard Nixon’s confrontation with the chair of the Federal Reserve in the 1970s makes for particularly timely reading."鈥擟atherine Schenk, F&D Magazine
"The international economy relies on the U.S. dollar. . . . As this sweeping history points out, however, the greenback is only the latest in a centuries-long series of global currencies, including the Dutch guilder and the British pound sterling, whose statures have risen and fallen with the fortunes of their issuers. For now, Eichengreen argues, none of the dollar’s would-be challengers, from the renminbi to digital alternatives such as stablecoins, have what it takes to supplant it. But, as America’s debts pile up and its relative wealth and power decline, the dollar’s appeal may fade."鈥�New Yorker
"In his new book. Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies From Croesus to Crypto (快色直播
University Press), Eichengreen argues that the fate of the U.S. dollar rests on its upholding the rule of law, maintaining the separation of powers, and honoring its commitments to its foreign partners. On the first two, I will leave it to readers to decide how well those conditions are being met by the Trump administration. As for the latter, America's allies have reason to be less confident about the U.S. sharing their common defense. As a consequence, they have less incentive to hold U.S. treasury securities rather than gold, an asset with no national ties."鈥擱andall W. Forsyth, Barron's
"In this powerful work covering 2,500 years of international currencies, Barry Eichengreen shows the financial and geopolitical factors shaping reserve currency status. . . . Eichengreen’s brilliant and sober assessment is essential reading for those seeking better alternative futures for the 21st century."鈥擳homas Reifer, Global Policy
"Is the US dollar doomed to lose its status as the global reserve currency? Barry Eichengreen has set out to answer this question in the latest of his impressive exercises in showing the relevance of economic history to current policy debates. . . . Eichengreen doesn’t predict the imminent displacement of the dollar as the international currency, but he notes the coalescence of a series of long- and short-term factors that are likely to result in its diminished stature in future."鈥擬ichael Taylor, Central Banking
"A profoundly transformative read that changes how we perceive money, banking, and the financial system’s role in society."鈥�Acemaxx-Analytics Newsletter
"[Eichengreen is] the rare economist who arrives at the question of money with two graduate degrees from Yale, one in economics and one in history. The combination is not biographical color. It is the source of the argument. . . . His new book, Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto, published by 快色直播 in March, is the synthesis. Twenty-five hundred years of international currencies, from Lydian electrum coinage of the seventh century BCE through Florentine florins and Spanish silver to the British pound, the U.S. dollar, and the digital currencies now arriving on private blockchains. The argument is direct. The same forces that lift a currency to global dominance eventually set the stage for its erosion. The dollar is not exempt. Eichengreen places it on the downside of the cycle."鈥�ACI Worldwide Blog
"Eichengreen is the doyen of experts on the international monetary system. In this timely book, he puts today’s concerns about the global role of the dollar into its historical context, beginning with Lydia. He notes, above all, that international monies have been national or, in the case of the euro, regional. This creates a tension. There is a global benefit to having a common international money. But its acceptability depends on trust in the specific issuer. Technological changes can also revolutionise the international monetary system. Today, both forces are undermining the dollar’s hitherto unquestioned primacy."鈥擬artin Wolf, Financial Times
"Squeezing 2,500 years of international monetary history into fewer than 250 pages is no small feat, though Barry Eichengreen, a doyen of international economics, is as good a candidate as there is to have a go. Given the recent surge in debate about the fate of ‘dollar dominance’ in the international monetary system, Eichengreen's timing is perfect. And the book really succeeds."鈥擠avid Lubin, International Affairs
"Barry Eichengreen has written an ambitious, detailed, elegant, and altogether fascinating account of how currencies become international, or globalized, and also when, how, why, and in what circumstances they stop playing that role. . . . this magnificent and necessary book understands the past as a means to assess the open issues of a very disorderly present."鈥擧arold James, Economic History Review
"A very entertaining delve into the history of global currencies which correctly highlights the role that military power plays in determining which country gets to print the top currency. Bottom line: don’t hold your breath waiting for the end of dollar dominance, since credible alternatives to the greenback are few."鈥擠avid Lubin, The World Today
"A history of international currencies, spanning 2,700 years, with huge relevance to the role of the U.S. dollar today."—Andrew Leigh MP, Australian Parliament
“Money Beyond Borders delivers what we have come to expect from Barry Eichengreen: a superb combination of erudition, lucidity, and comprehensiveness—sprinkled with lovely (and germane) historical vignettes spanning millennia. You will want this magisterial work on your bookshelf.”—Alan S. Blinder, author of A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961–2021
“In Money Beyond Borders, Barry Eichengreen, one of the world’s top international economists, traces the currencies that have dominated global exchange across history. In this erudite and always interesting narrative, he shows how factors ranging from a country’s prominence in international trade and investment to its military strength contribute to a currency’s international acceptability. At a time when some observers outside the United States lament the U.S. dollar’s extraordinary privileges while some Americans see it as an extraordinary burden, this timely book allows readers to assess the risks to the dollar’s continued dominance.”—Raghuram G. Rajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and author of Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy
“From Croesus to crypto is a story that only the monetary historian Barry Eichengreen could pull off. We are lucky he did. The common patterns and tensions that he uncovers are the best guide to what is to come. As Money Beyond Borders demonstrates, new currency technologies will still take place in a world of nations and economic constraints.”—Adam S. Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics
“Barry Eichengreen illuminates the long arc of international money, from ancient coinage to digital tokens, showing how each era’s monetary innovations reflect globalization forces. With historical breadth and his trademark clarity, he explains the persistent tension between the national control of money and its international use. This is a masterful and timely guide to understanding not only the rise of cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies, but also the mechanisms that will shape the monetary order of tomorrow.”—H茅l猫ne Rey, London Business School
