Paul Blustein is a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal journalist who has authored several acclaimed books on global economic institutions. In Paul’s first appearance on the show, he discusses the historical rise of the dollar, it’s present-day power, how it compares to other global currencies, current challenges to its power, the rise of crypto, and much more.

Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links.

Recorded on March 26th, 2025

Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus

Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth

Follow Paul Blustein on X: @PaulBlustein

Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings

Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot!

Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!

Join the Macro Musings mailing list!

Check out our Macro Musings merch!

Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel 

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:00:52) – Paul’s Books

(00:05:08) – Motivations for King Dollar

(00:09:02) – History of the Dollar

(00:12:57) – Nixon Shock of 1971

(00:23:36) – Paul Volcker

(00:33:14) – Dollar Dominance and Statecraft

(00:40:46) – What About the Euro?

(00:44:42) – Cryptocurrency as a Rival to the Dollar

(00:47:54) – Drawbacks of Dollar Dominance

(00:57:03) – Outro