Mehrling Explores History of and Challenges Facing International Dollar System
In an appearance on the Hidden Forces podcast, Perry Mehrling, Professor of International Political Economy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, discusses the international dollar system, what has made the system so strong, the challenges that could impede its function, as well as the role of politics and war in accelerating changes.
Mehrling and host Demetri Kofinas aim to help deepen the understanding of a financial system that has proven to be far more resilient than many of its critics and most ardent supporters could have possibly imagined. They do so by diving into Mehrling’s most recent book, Money and Empire, which is in some sense a biography of the United States Dollar told through the life and times of the renowned economic historian, Charlie Kindleberger. The book traces the evolution of Kindleberger’s thinking alongside the rise of the international dollar system.
Listen to the full episode below on the Hidden Forces website.
Perry Mehrling is a Professor of International Political Economy at the Pardee School and teaches courses on the economics of money and banking, the history of money and finance, and international money. He is the author of The New Lombard Street: How the Fed became the dealer of last resort (Princeton 2011), Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance (Wiley 2005), and The Money Interest and the Public Interest (Harvard 1997). Recent papers and videos are available on his website, a “one-stop shopping for all things ‘money view.” For more about Professor Mehrling, visit his faculty profile.