Biography of the Dollar: How the Mighty Buck Conquered the World and Why It's Under Siege

by Craig Karmin

Book Overview

"A remarkable historical, political, and economic examination of the dollar." -Booklist Craig Karmin's in-depth "biography" of the dollar examines the power of the Federal Reserve, the inner sanctums... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307339866
• ISBN13: 9780307339867
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 263 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great book about a topic that we don't think about everyday

The author says that the dollar has helped the world's economic expansion, but at the same time encouraged the United States to borrow heavily from foreigners. Now these foreign lenders are questioning whether the U.S. will be able to keep paying the interest on these loans. If they lose faith in our country's ability to pay, this could have very negative consequences for us and the rest of the world. The dollar has a special status because it is the primary unit of international trade and finance. It is simply the world's currency. But the status of the dollar is changing and might one day be replaced by the Euro or the Yuan. I learned a lot from this book and recommend it to others. - Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

Strictly for cash !

The birth of currency on the core concepts as a store of value, a medium of exchange has enabled trade and economic prosperity over the centuries. Typically societies used gold, silver and copper coins as currencies since these commodities satisfied these fundamental definition of currency. However, in order to facilitate faster and safer transactions, paper currency backed primarily by gold cam into vogue. The country whose currency dominated as the most acceptable tender emerged as the reserve currency of the world. Hence the British Pound Sterling of dominated world markets in the nineteenth century. Subsequently, in the twenty first century and till date the UD Dollar had successfully replaced the Pound and currently reigns as the worlds most traded and acceptable currency. This book outlines this economic history of the Dollar to its present day preeminence among all world currencies. If the book had just covered what is outlined above, I would have considered it at a primer at best, and perhaps given it a two star rating, complimenting it for a chronological listing of events. However, there are lots of interesting facets of the Dollar that is largely ignored in standard books on economics. Here is where the book scores and earns its additional three stars. - An inside view of the foreign markets from the office of a leading foreign exchange dealer. Provides a good insight into the psychology of traders and how they make or lose money by betting on small fluctuations on the value of a currency against another. - The story of Ecuador is very interesting. Here the government, unable to figure out how to manage its own currency from sharp fluctuations against the dollar and also the consequential impact on inflation finally abandons the local currency and adopts the dollar. Why bother when the US can do the job for us? - For the first time I got an impressive "tour" of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) where the United States actually prints its greenbacks. This is a thriller, and perhaps deserves a novel or movie ( if one doesn't already exist). Even more fascinating is the Fed's commitment to exchange dollars that are damaged, and sometimes beyond recognition. A IOWA farmer butchers the cow that swallowed his wallet, and sends what can be found in the digestive tract for redemption. The experts at work assess the value of the loss even in this form and promptly dispatch a check to the farmer. - The chapter on the US's departure from gold standard (Bretton Woods 1944) and the Plaza Accord is unbiased. However the consequences of unbridled monetary expansion of fiat currency that is not backed t=by any asset is any ones guess. But for now, Fort Knox no longer has the obligation to pay in gold for greenbacks. - The Dollar the reserve currency to a large extent, the US benefits from its ability to borrow from other countries. The rapid growth in the US trade deficit and consequential external debt is now reaching alarming prop

Biography of the Dollar

I found this book to be very informative, especially since I have had no background in the currancy markets. I had no idea of the power of foreign reserves based upon the amount of dollars they hold in their central banks, and what the possible outcomes could be just based upon officials discussing the potential of diversifying away from the dollar. A great starter book for anyone wishing to get an overall sense of the currency market and its size and power. An easy read that teaches you something about your country you may not know.

Excellent book

It is an excellent book to understand the dynamics of the currency markets and will give an insight to the ordinary people how policymakers have screwed an excellent arrangement of international trade currency fir their own benefits. It will encourage people to ask questions, what measures are being taken by the policymakers to correct this situation. A strong $ is not in the interest of US but also in the interst of other nations. However the shortsightedness on the part of politicians has weakened the $ to such an extent that it seems to be beyond repair now. However all is not yet lost and it is still possible to bring the USD to its full glory. The author has explained the whole thing in a very lucid language. I recommend this book to all.

Everyone American Needs to Read This Book! (or One Like It)

Craig Karmin's new book, "Biography of the Dollar," explores a world that most of us in America take for granted - the world of currency. So, what's so important about the currency? My answer to that is simple- everything. A free-flowing, stable currency is what makes all trade possible- both domestically and internationally. A lack of confidence in the underlying value of a currency can bring entire economies to a screeching halt. The results can be devastating- life savings are wiped out, hyperinflation can take root, debt is defaulted on, investment dries up. It can take decades for economies to recover. If you're like me, you probably haven't given much thought to these issues. Because, as Americans, they seem to be such remote possibilities. But are they . . . ? Karmin's book does an excellent job of informing the reader of how the US Dollar is created, distributed and used not only in the United States; but, throughout the world. Karmin covers many aspects of the Greenback- from printing (it costs 5.7 cents to print one) to foreign government's hoarding (60% of the dollars in circulation are overseas) to lending and interest rates (thank China, not the fed, for keeping US consumer borrowing rates low). Karmin also brings to light the intense pressure that the Dollar is under every day from seemingly all sides: -the U.S. Government's unwillingness to balance the budget, -Asian and Middle Eastern countries growing less interested with "subsidizing" the value of the Dollar, -the solidifying of the Euro as an alternative global currency, and -the U.S. consumer's never-ending desire to "borrow-and-buy" their way through life All of these factors have already played out to a certain degree in the declining value of the Dollar over the past couple years. Will the trend continue and how far will it go? Those questions are explored as well. I highly recommend that anyone read this book- it is an eye opener without getting technical (economist-types will miss their I-L-S-M diagrams)- and it poses all the right questions to get American's thinking about the implications for the future- whether that be as vital as national security or as trivial as the cost of a hotel room in Paris.