Greenback Planet: How the Dollar Conquered the World and Threatened Civilization as We Know It (Discovering America (University of Texas Press))

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 economic might made the dollar the fundamental standard of value in world finance. He vividly describes the 1869 Black Friday attempt to corner the gold market, banker J. P. Morgan’s bailout of the U.S. treasury, the creation of the Federal Reserve, and President Franklin Roosevelt’s handling of the bank panic of 1933. Brands shows how lessons learned (and not learned) in the Great Depression have influenced subsequent U.S. monetary policy, and how the dollar’s dominance helped transform economies in countries ranging from Germany and Japan after World War II to Russia and China today. He concludes with a sobering dissection of the 2008 world financial debacle, which exposed the power—and the enormous risks—of the dollar’s worldwide reign. From the New York Times –bestselling historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, “[a] compact summation of our nation’s monetary history” ( Shepherd Express ). The world runs on the US dollar. From Washington to Beijing, governments, businesses, and individuals rely on the dollar to conduct commerce and invest profitably and safely. 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 economic might made the dollar the fundamental standard of value in world finance. He vividly describes the 1869 Black Friday attempt to corner the gold market, banker J. P. Morgan’s bailout of the U.S. treasury, the creation of the Federal Reserve, and President Franklin Roosevelt’s handling of the bank panic of 1933. Brands shows how lessons learned (and not learned) in the Great Depression have influenced subsequent U.S. monetary policy, and how the dollar’s dominance helped transform economies in countries ranging from Germany and Japan after World War II to Russia and China today. He concludes with a sobering dissection of the 2008 world financial debacle, which exposed the power—and the enormous risks—of the dollar’s worldwide reign. This is a timely, comprehensive examination of the history, current status, and future prospects of Medicare. It provides an analysis of Medicare's accomplishments and failings, an assessment of alternative approaches to remedying the problems, a discussion of the principles that can guide the choice among options, and the authors' recommendations for reform. The book is based on a careful consideration of the health care needs of the elderly, and reflects the work of physicians, gerontologists, lawyers, former Medicare administrators, health economists, political scientists, and experts on government and public policy. Professionals and policy-makers will appreciate this thoughtful examination of the Medicare program. -- Amazon.com Cover......Page 1 Greenback Planet......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 10 Fiat Lucre......Page 13 Strong and Stronger......Page 34 Skulls and Bones......Page 51 The View from Mount Washington......Page 69 Floating, Floating . . .......Page 84 Petrodollars, Eurodollars and the Invincible Yen......Page 93 Bubble and Boil......Page 104 Be Nice to Your Creditors......Page 118 Notes......Page 134 Acknowledgments......Page 142 INDEX......Page 144 " ... [A]cclaimed 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."--Page [4] of jacket Fiat lucre : 1863-1907 Strong and stronger : 1907-1928 Skulls and bones : 1929-1944 The view from Mount Washington : 1944-1963 Floating, floating : 1963-1973 Petrodollars, Eurodollars and the invincible yen : 1973-1989 Bubble and boil : 1990-2002 Be nice to your creditors : 2003-. With fascinating stories of money men, from Alexander Hamilton to Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, and deft explanations of the ins and outs of monetary policy, Greenback Planet clarifies why the dollar rules the world-and why that should frighten us all.