World Famous Comics: Biography of the Dollar: How the Mighty Buck Conquered the World and Why It's Under Siege
Biography of the Dollar: How the Mighty Buck Conquered the World and Why It's Under Siege
By: Craig Karmin Publisher: Crown Business Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Crown Business Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 272 Publication Date: February 26, 2008 Release Date: February 26, 2008
Product Description: Will the sun set on the greatest currency in the history of the world?
For decades the dollar has been the undisputed champ. It’s not only the currency of America but much of the world as well, the fuel of global prosperity. As the superengine of the world’s only superpower, it’s accepted everywhere. When an Asian company trades with South America, those transactions are done in dollars, the currency of international business.
But for how much longer? Economists fear America is digging a hole with an economy based on massive borrowing and huge deficits that cloud the dollar’s future. Will the buck be eclipsed by the euro or even China’s renminbi? Should Americans worry when the value of the mighty U.S. dollar sinks to par with the Canadian “loonie”?
Craig Karmin’s in-depth “biography” of the dollar explores these issues. It also examines the green-back’s history, allure, and unique role as a catalyst for globalization, and how the American buck became so almighty that $ became perhaps the most powerful symbol on earth.
Biography of the Dollar explores every aspect of its subject: the power of the Federal Reserve, the inner sanctums of foreign central banks that stockpile the currency, and the little-known circles of foreign exchange traders that determine a currency’s worth. It traces the dollar’s ascendancy, including one incredibly important duck-hunting trip and the world-changing Bretton Woods Conference.
With its watermark, color-shifting inks, and a presidential portrait that glows under ultraviolet light, the dollar has obsessed foreign governments, some of which have tried to counterfeit it. Even Saddam Hussein, who insisted on being paid in euros for oil, had $750,000 in hundred-dollar bills when captured. Yet if a worldwide currency has enabled a global economy to flourish, it’s also allowed the United States to owe unbelievable, shocking amounts of money—paying hundreds of millions of dollars every single day just in interest on foreign debt; that’s raised concerns that the dollar standard may not be sustainable.
Any threat to the dollar’s privileged status would do much more than hurt American pride. It would mean U.S. companies and citizens would not be able to borrow at the low rates they have become accustomed to. The dollar’s demise would impact the rest of the world, too, boosting the costs of trade and investment if no other currency was able to play the same crucial role. Ultimately the dollar system may weaken, but it should endure—a while longer, at least; it’s in few people’s interest to see it fail, and there is still no credible alternative.
Biography of the Dollar is must reading for anyone who wants to understand what truly makes the world go ’round—and whether it will continue to spin the way we want it to.
Fine financial journalism Popular audience discussion of the history of the dollar, a journalistic rather than academic account of the dollar in history and today. A well-written read. The chapter on dollarization in places like Ecuador is informative, and the chapters that deal with the situation up through early 2007 - the long term decline of the dollar, rise of the euro, and reasons why foreign government holdings of US dollar Treasury debt makes such a difference are very clear explanations for the layperson. Very fine financial journalism.
Very interesting read! I read this during the financial crisis, and it helped me understand why the US economy is in trouble. Very easy to understand complex topics, and was fun to read. Pleasantly surprised that it was such an enjoyable book. Would recommend it to people who want to understand the role the US and the dollar play in the world's economy, but who don't want a boring textbook!
Poor Start ? I was put off after reaching page 3 of the introduction. It states the U.S pays $1,000,000 per day for each (350,000,000) person in the country in interest payments on the foreign debt. That is $127,750 trillion per year. Didn't seem right.
After wasting an hour trying to reconcile this I checked further in the index for other references and I see this number quoted again on page 244. Except this time the underlying math is detailed (which agrees with my research) and shows the debt interest to be $310,000,000 per day. This is about a $1.00 per person per day. Even there the $1 million per day is repeated.
Not good start for this book on finance. What will page 4 bring?
Tell Tale of the Taler One interesting bit of information I had found during my searches in the Internet about money was how Iraq in the year 2000 had changed the denomination with which it traded oil: from the U.S. dollar to the euro. At that point in history, I wondered if Iraq's leadership had sealed its fate long before 9/11 attacks happened. Alan Greenspan, in his recent autobiography, concedes the cause of the Iraq war is really oil, most of which is traded using the dollar. Craig Karmin, in his book, "Biography Of The Dollar" confirms Iraq's fateful decision, but makes little mention of the Iraq war and its causes. He does, however, strongly suggest how the most important events in the world can be traced back to the movers and the movement of currency, the dollar in particular.
Currency Exchange is a lot like fishing in a three-trillion-dollar pond...in a single day, writes Karmin. He takes us through one day in the life of Jeff Weiser, whose life is money; not as a means but an end: trading it day and night. Karmin then takes us through the 128 years old hallow halls of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where money is made. This is one place where garbage is not rolled down to the roadside to be picked up by Waste Management. That garbage is BEP's weakest point: Money that wasn't deemed "perfect" and therefore has to be discarded. Somebody has to destroy that imperfect money, yet "how can you tell if something is destroyed?" asks an official of the BEP. Numerous people who worked for the BEP had abused their position. Some had used money that had neither the serial number nor the Federal Reserve seal on it. Others were more insidious. Karmin writes about several such stories in detail in fast read. He also discusses the way countries use counterfeit as a strategic ploy to attack other countries. For this reason, by virtue of the sophistication and technology that is in the dollar, one holds a Fort Knox in his palm.
interesting read This book is very entertaining and informative, even if (or perhaps, because) it doesn't go into the finer details. Many of us took for granted the power of the 'buck' around the world, but now that it's in decline, we're starting to notice ! The book gives some insight into how the dollar achieved it's unique status as the currency of international trade, how the relative value of the dollar affects other countries, and vice-versa. The book is also thought-provoking, and I'm now thinking about different ways to protect and grow my retirement savings. A worthwhile read.
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