meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Hidden Forces

Will the U.S. Dollar Survive the Breakdown of the International System? | Paul Blustein

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 412 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with financial journalist and economic historian, Paul Blustein about the U.S. Dollar’s historical resiliency in the face of international shocks and crises, and whether Dollar hegemony can survive the breakdown of the international capital and trading system.

In the first hour, Kofinas and Blustein trace how the U.S. dollar became the de facto currency for global trade, savings, and investment and what recent policy shifts in Washington—and how they have been perceived abroad—may mean for the future value and status of the Greenback.

The second hour builds on this foundation as Paul and Demetri speculate about what the future holds for dollar hegemony in a world characterized by growing trade protectionism, a breakdown in international cooperation, and a potentially irreparable loss of confidence among foreign investors in U.S. leadership and in the strength and reliability of U.S. capital markets.

This could not be a timelier conversation about a subject whose ramifications will continue to play out over many years if not decades to come.

Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting HiddenForces.io/subscribe.

If you’d like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe.

If you enjoyed today’s episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by:

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

Subscribe and support the podcast at https://hiddenforces.io.
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas

Episode Recorded on 04/23/2025

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

What's up, everybody?

0:02.1

My name is Demetri Gaffinus, and you're listening to Hidden Forces, a podcast that inspires investors,

0:09.0

entrepreneurs and everyday citizens to challenge consensus narratives, and learn how to think critically

0:15.4

about the systems of power shaping our world.

0:19.1

My guest in this episode of Hidden Forces is financial journalist

0:22.1

and economic historian Paul Bluestin. Paul has written about economic issues for more than 40 years,

0:28.6

first as a reporter at leading news organizations like the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post,

0:34.1

and later as the author of several critically acclaimed books, including a history

0:38.7

of the 2001 Argentine debt crisis that I have often referenced on this podcast. His latest book,

0:45.9

King Dollar, traces how the U.S. dollar became the de facto currency for global trade,

0:51.7

savings, and investment, and examines what recent policy shifts in Washington

0:55.8

and how they have been perceived abroad may mean for the future value and status of the greenback.

1:02.1

Paul and I spend the first hour of our conversation exploring the story of the dollar's evolution,

1:07.1

from its role as a second-class unit of account within its own hemisphere to becoming the most

1:12.5

important and preeminent currency in all of human history. The second hour builds on that foundation

1:19.3

as we speculate about what the future holds for dollar hegemony in a world characterized by

1:25.4

growing trade protectionism, a breakdown in international cooperation,

1:29.7

and a potentially irreparable loss of confidence among foreign investors in U.S. leadership

1:33.9

and in the strength and reliability of U.S. capital markets.

1:38.4

This could not be a timelier conversation about a subject whose ramifications will continue

1:43.5

to play out over many years,

1:45.5

if not decades, to come. If you want access to all of it and you're not already subscribed

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Demetri Kofinas, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Demetri Kofinas and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.