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Currency Power: Understanding Monetary Rivalry

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin J. Cohen

    (University of California)

Abstract

Monetary rivalry is a fact of life in the world economy. Intense competition between international currencies like the US dollar, Europe’s euro, and the Chinese yuan is profoundly political, going to the heart of the global balance of power. But what exactly is the relationship between currency and power, and what does it portend for the geopolitical standing of the United States, Europe, and China? Popular opinion holds that the days of the dollar, long the world’s dominant currency, are numbered. By contrast, Currency Power argues that the current monetary rivalry still greatly favors America’s greenback. Benjamin Cohen shows why neither the euro nor the yuan will supplant the dollar at the top of the global currency hierarchy. Cohen presents an innovative analysis of currency power and emphasizes the importance of separating out the various roles that international money might have. After systematically exploring the links between currency internationalization and state power, Cohen turns to the state of play among today’s top currencies. The greenback, he contends, is the “indispensable currency”—the one that the world can’t do without. Only the dollar is backed by all the economic and political resources that make a currency powerful. Meanwhile, the euro is severely handicapped by structural defects in the design of its governance mechanisms, and the yuan suffers from various practical limitations in both finance and politics. Contrary to today’s growing opinion, Currency Power demonstrates that the dollar will continue to be the leading global currency for some time to come.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin J. Cohen, 2015. "Currency Power: Understanding Monetary Rivalry," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10577.
    • Handle: RePEc:pup:pbooks:10577
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hyoung-kyu Chey & Geun-Young Kim & Dong Hyun Lee, 2016. "Who Are the First Users of a Newly-Emerging International Currency? A Demand-Side Study of Chinese Renminbi Internationalization," Working Papers 2016-19, Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea.
    2. Barry Eichengreen & Arnaud Mehl & Livia Chiţu & Thorsten Beck, 2019. "Mars or Mercury? The geopolitics of international currency choice," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 34(98), pages 315-363.
    3. Aman, Moustapha & Nenovsky, Nikolay, 2014. "Géopolitique du régime monétaire. Expliquer la longévité du Currency Board de Djibouti [Geopolitics of Monetaray Regime. Expaning the longevity of Currency Board in Djibouti]," MPRA Paper 80089, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    4. Cohen, Benjamin J., 2015. "The Demise of the Dollar?," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 18.
    5. Ayse Kaya & Byungwon Woo, 2022. "China and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): Chinese Influence Over Membership Shares?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 781-813, October.
    6. Alexander Bystryakov & Nikolay Nenovsky & Elena Ponomarenko, 2019. "Monetary Innovations and Digital Economy," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 3-18.
    7. Zucker Marques, Marina, 2021. "Financial statecraft and transaction costs: The case of renminbi internationalization," Discussion Papers 2021/9, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    8. Nikolay NENOVSKY, 2022. "Theoretical Foundations of the Dependent Monetary Regimes," Business & Management Compass, University of Economics Varna, issue 3-4, pages 113-133.
    9. Allegret, Audrey & Allegret, Jean-Pierre & Ibrahim, Dalia, 2023. "Financial asymmetries between Euro area and the United States: An international political economy perspective," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 266-285.
    10. Guo, Wei & Chen, Zhongfei & Šević, Aleksandar, 2021. "The political pressure from the US upon RMB exchange rate," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Alan de Bromhead & David Jordan & Francis Kennedy & Jack Seddon, 2023. "Sterling's farewell symphony: The end of the Sterling Area revisited," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 415-444, May.
    12. Manmohan Agarwal & Amrita Brahmo, 2020. "The Effect of 2008 Financial Crisis on the Distribution of Economic Power," International Studies, , vol. 57(2), pages 87-110, April.
    13. van Eeghen, Piet-Hein, 2021. "Funding money-creating banks: Cash funding, balance sheet funding and the moral hazard of currency elasticity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Seghezza, Elena & Morelli, Pierluigi, 2018. "Rule of law and balance of power sustain US dollar preeminence," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 16-36.
    15. Marina Zucker‐Marques & Pedro Perfeito da Silva, 2022. "The Role of Institutions: A Cross‐country Analysis of Renminbi Trading in Foreign Exchange Markets," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(3), pages 42-74, May.
    16. AMAN, Moustapha, 2018. "Les sphères d’influence dans les régimes monétaires : l’expérience de la Corne de l’Afrique (1860-1950) [Spheres of influence in monetary regimes: the experience of the Horn of Africa (1860-1950)]," MPRA Paper 98815, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. De Bromhead, Alan & Jordan, David & Kennedy, Francis & Seddon, Jack, 2021. "How does international monetary leadership end? The Sterling Area revisited," QUCEH Working Paper Series 21-02, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    18. Alina Iancu & Gareth Anderson & Sakai Ando & Ethan Boswell & Andrea Gamba & Shushanik Hakobyan & Lusine Lusinyan & Neil Meads & Yiqun Wu, 2022. "Reserve Currencies in an Evolving International Monetary System," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 879-915, November.

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