Introduction: The making of a dominant currency
Part 1. Past challengers to dollar dominace. The Soviet challenge
The single currency in Europe
Part 2. China: the present-day challenger. This time is different
Zhu Rongji's uncanny forecasts
The People's Bank of China
The inevitability of dollar decoupling
Part 3. Everyone else's problem: living with the dollar. The lure of fixed exchange rates
When exchange rate pegs outlive their shelf life
Lebannon and Argentina: Unique or prototypical?
Fixed exchange rates redux
Part 4. Alternative currencies. Global currencies
Cryptocurrencies and the future of money
Central Bank digital currencies
Part 5. The perks and burdens of being the dominant currency. Perks of currency dominance
Exorbitant privilege or taxation without representation?
Small ways the United States helps countries deal with dollar dominance
Costs of being a dominant currency
Part 6. Peak dollar dominace. Central Bank independence: The bulwark of currency dominance
Debtor's empire: The United States' achilles' heel
The siren call of 'lower forever' interest rates
The end of the Pax Dollar Era?
