Our Dollar, Your Problem

A National Bestseller • Recommended by Financial Times as “What to Read in 2025”
 
“The central argument of Our Dollar, Your Problem—that the greenback’s pre-eminence was never guaranteed and might plausibly be overturned—could hardly be more timely.”—The Economist
 
A leading economist explores the global rise of the U.S. dollar and shows why its future stability is far from assured
 
Our Dollar, Your Problem argues that America’s currency might not have reached today’s lofty pinnacle without a certain amount of good luck. Drawing in part on his own experiences, including with policymakers and world leaders, Kenneth Rogoff animates the remarkable postwar run of the dollar—how it beat out the Japanese yen, the Soviet ruble, and the euro—and the challenges it faces today from crypto and the Chinese yuan, the end of reliably low inflation and interest rates, political instability, and the fracturing of the dollar bloc. Americans cannot take for granted that the Pax Dollar era will last indefinitely, not only because many countries are deeply frustrated with the system, but also because overconfidence and arrogance can lead to unforced errors. Rogoff shows how America’s outsized power and exorbitant privilege can spur financial instability—not just abroad but also at home.; Kenneth Rogoff animates the postwar rise of the U.S. dollar, and how it overcame myriad challenges to reach today’s extraordinary dominance. Going forward, however, internal political fissures, and the likely fracturing of the dollar bloc, portend an era of great financial instability, both at home and abroad.