Cornell Club

The Fate of the U.S. Dollar: A Conversation Between Cornell Professor Eswar Prasad and Edward Luce
Join Cornell Professor Eswar Prasad and Financial Times columnist Edward Luce to discuss Professor Prasad’s new book The Dollar Trap: How the U.S. Dollar Tightened Its Grip on Global Finance (Princeton University Press, February 2014).
The U.S. dollar ’s dominance seems under threat. The near collapse of the U.S. financial system in 2008-2009, political paralysis that has blocked effective policymaking, and the emergence of the Chinese renminbi have heightened speculation about the dollar’s displacement as the main reserve currency. In “The Dollar Trap,” Eswar Prasad makes a powerful argument that this conventional wisdom is wrong—the financial crisis, a dysfunctional international monetary system, and U.S. policies have paradoxically strengthened the dollar ’s importance. The Dollar Trap offers a panoramic analysis of the fragile state of global finance and makes a compelling case that, despite all its flaws, the dollar will remain the ultimate safe haven currency.
Date : Wednesday, January 29th, 2014