Description
The U.S. dollar has served as the key currency of the international economic/financial system for over fifty years. This study assesses the proposition that the series of U.S. current-account deficits over the last twenty years will shortly exhaust the capability of the dollar to continue as the key currency. H. PETER GRAY is Professor Emeritus of International Economics and Business at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York, USA. He is a past president of both the Eastern Economic Association and of the International Trade and Finance Association. Preface to the Paperback Foreword; R.Canterbery PART I: INTRODUCTION The Purpose and Three Propositions PART II: HOW A HEGEMONIC SYSTEM WORKS Background Concepts and Relationships in a Globalized World A Theory of Balance-of-Payments Adjustment for the Hegemon A Model of Instability in Asset Markets PART III: EXHAUSTION: SOFT, HARD OR VERY HARD LANDING? The Data Assessing Propositions One and Two The Efficiency of Adjustment PART IV: CONFRONTING THE FUTURE Policy Options and Constraints The Transition Problem A Proposed Agenda for Redesign CONCLUDING ASSESSMENT The Grim Prospect Ahead The Implications of the Increasing U.S. International Dissaving in 2003 and 2004
