The Future of the Global Currency System

Issues discussed:

• National currencies’ roles in the global economy
• How wealth confers power
• Assessment of potential alternatives to the U.S. dollar (as the international currency)
• Potential politicization of leadership competition
• Inconclusive predictions about the future of the currency system

Biography: Benjamin Cohen teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on international political economy at the Political Science Department, UC Santa Barbara. He previously taught at Princeton University and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His research interests involve issues of international monetary and financial relations, and he has written about matters ranging from exchange rates and monetary integration to financial markets and international debt. His latest book, International Political Economy: An Intellectual History, was published in 2008 by Princeton University Press.