This is Planet Money from NPR.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago, the US response has been primarily economic,

to punish Russia through sanctions.

Now, other countries can impose sanctions and, of course, many have, but US sanctions are

more damaging.

Acting on its own, the US can exact a huge amount of pain.

The reason for that is all about the dollar, and the dollar is very special status as

the world's reserve currency.

It's the main currency used by multinational businesses and financial institutions.

That means when the US imposes sanctions, it has more power to mess up the workings of

another country's central bank and its global trade relationships.

So where does that special privilege come from?

Today we're bringing back an episode from the archives that tells the story of how the

US dollar came to have so much clout in the first place.

This episode originally ran in 2014, Robert Smith and Zoe Chase.

Take it from here.

They say that money makes the world go round, but let's be more specific.

It is actually the US dollar.

Like, if you're a French wine exporter and you need Chilean oak for your wine barrels,

you pay in US dollars.

If you're a Brazilian coffee maker, you want to sell your coffee to make drinks in Turkey.

You get paid in US dollars.

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