Notwithstanding my overall crypto skepticism, I agreed with the event’s hosts that a Korean won stablecoin would be a good idea, given the possibility of a worldwide infestation of USD ones. (Yes, I used the word “infestation.”)

P.S. Under normal circumstances I’d be rooting for the team that includes Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki, but thanks to the Mad King’s tariff announcement today, I’m changing allegiances.

And if you want to know WHY stories about the dollar losing its international status so often prove to be "quite hasty," have I got a book for you!

Plus, there’s the dedication, in which I continue to take fiendish delight.
/end

Time will tell. Whatever happens, I humbly submit that my book has a lot to offer, not least its explanation of how $-based sanctions work and its overarching theme, that the Spider-Man adage applies to the $—with great power comes great responsibility.

Strange as this may sound, I hope my book IS wrong. Trump loves coercing other countries with tariffs, and $ dominance gives him an even more formidable weapon in the form of sanctions. I wish he didn’t have such power, but no good will come from pretending that it ain’t so.

So doesn’t it give me pause that a scholar of his expertise and stature is taking issue with a central premise of my book? Of course it does, but I still think I’m right, and there are other knowledgeable experts in the field who agree.

I’ve learned more about the dollar from @B_Eichengreen
than from anyone else—his work is cited 20 times in the endnotes to my book! Most of my recent books have drawn heavily on his brilliant insights—about financial crises, the global monetary system, etc.

But that does *not* mean the dollar will lose its centrality in international finance and commerce, as I argue in this interview for The International Economy magazine.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zuhjv...

Don’t get me wrong: alarm over the recklessness of Trump’s policies strikes me as fully warranted. A severe financial crisis could well be in the offing, and even if that doesn’t happen, America will end up considerably less prosperous than it would be otherwise.

Good evidence supporting my view came out this week in the Geneva Report on the World Economy. For example, the authors note that the market turmoil of April 2025, which sparked widespread dollar doomsaying, can be seen quite differently in retrospect.
cepr.org/publications...

I hate to disappoint @B_Eichengreen--truly, I do!--but
I’ve already written a new preface for the paperback, which says:

“I remain steadfast in my conviction that the dollar will retain the unique role it plays in cross-border transactions for the foreseeable future.”

Sounds like it was one hell of a ballgame. The rabid Giants fan in my house says she doesn't care since her team doesn't deserve to win the Japan Series, given how far ahead of everybody Hanshin was during the regular season. Good luck in the Kuraimaksu Shireezu Fainaru Steiji!

Well, since you said such nice things about my book, I'll gladly overlook our differences about which Japanese baseball team to root for!