China wants the world to accept the renminbi as a reserve currency. What are their reasons for suggesting an alternative to the US Dollar? Was Bretton Woods a mistake? Is Purchasing Power Parity a reasonable way to value a currency? Money is international but a currency is national; how many people care about that distinction?

Has anyone ever gotten a date by using monetary theory as a pickup line? Is the paradigm of a "cold war" drawn from the Soviet-American 20th century headbutting a useful frame to examine the actions of the Chinese government? Has the Dollar's role at the core of the international financial system been a net positive or negative for the United States?

Tune in to hear James Fok's highly informed take on these important issues and Your Enlightentaining Host’s nostalgia over the bezant.