History & Impact of A Strong U.S. Dollar

Does the Fed Have Any Responsibility to Developing Nations?

Is a strong U.S. dollar good for us Americans? Is it good for Europeans, specifically those whose currency is the Euro?

How about emerging markets? Is a strong U.S. dollar good for them? What if those developing nations borrow in U.S. dollars? Then, wouldn’t a strong dollar make servicing their debts even more onerous?

Here is another question: is that our problem? Asked differently, should the Federal Reserve — America’s central bank, take the economic well-being of other countries, e.g., developing nations, into consideration when it sets U.S. monetary policies?

Believe it or not, this issue is vociferously raised at international conferences.

For answers to all these questions, we speak with Professor Barry Eichengreen, the Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley. Dr. Eichengreen has won many prestigious awards for his teaching and research. He is a past president of the Economic History Association, and a Research Associate of the NBER.

In this episode, Dr. Eichengreen talks about the history of the dollar’s strength — from its zenith to its nadir, and provides many anecdotes that liven the…