Description
Book Synopsis The world runs on the U.S. dollar. From Washington to Beijing, governments, businesses, and individuals rely on the dollar to conduct commerce and invest profitably and safely—even after the global financial meltdown in 2008 revealed the potentially catastrophic cost of the dollar''s hegemony. But how did the greenback achieve this planetary dominance a mere century and a half after President Lincoln issued the first currency backed only by the credit—and credibility—of the federal government?
In Greenback Planet, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands charts the dollar''s astonishing rise to become the world''s principal currency. Telling the story with the verve of a novelist, he recounts key episodes in U.S. monetary history, from the Civil War debate over fiat money (greenbacks) to the recent worldwide financial crisis. Brands explores the dollar''s changing relations to gold and silver and to other currencies and cogently explains how America''s econ
Trade Review
Praise for H. W. Brands: "Brands [is] on the path to becoming the preeminent popular historian of his generation... There is no denying [his] talent for clear, cogent, and uncluttered prose." Chicago Tribune "Exuberant... Entertaining, lively... Brands [is] a wonderfully skilled narrative historian." Los Angeles Times "In this history of the US dollar, Brands details the key episodes that contributed to the rise of the 'greenback' as the world's pre-eminent currency. He asks what lessons previous financial failures (and successes) hold for policymakers dealing with the fallout of the 2008 crisis." - Survival, June-July 2012
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Fiat Lucre: 1863–1907
- 2. Strong and Stronger: 1907–1928
- 3. Skulls and Bones: 1929–1944
- 4. The View from Mount Washington: 1944–1963
- 5. Floating, Floating . . . : 1963–1973
- 6. Petrodollars, Eurodollars and the Invincible Yen: 1973–1989
- 7. Bubble and Boil: 1990–2002
- 8. Be Nice to Your Creditors: 2003–
- Notes
- Acknowledgments
- Index
