The Dollar's Dominance: Vulnerability and Rivals

The dollar may look unshakeable, but history suggests its throne has always been more precarious than it appears. In this episode, we trace how past challengers—from the Soviet rouble to the Japanese yen—once seemed poised to dethrone it, only to falter. Today, the biggest threat isn’t a rising rival but America itself: political volatility, erratic trade policies, and the risk of a sudden loss of investor confidence. Economist Kenneth Rogoff argues that while countries have suffered crises by tying themselves too tightly to the dollar, the world’s current “Tokyo consensus” of holding vast reserves without fixed pegs has kept the system stable—so far. What happens if that confidence cracks? We unpack the past, present, and uncertain future of the world’s most powerful currency.https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/04/16/hell-is-other-peoples-currencies