Читать книгу Financial Cold War. A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets онлайн

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Paradoxically, the very undermining of the dollar's value caused by that decision enabled the US currency's international reach to widen further. This is because it freed the US from residual constraints on its balance of payments deficits, and the volatility it unleashed in financial markets precipitated the development and proliferation of derivatives. The US dollar is now not only the reference currency in which individuals and corporations all over the world conduct commerce and account for their asset holdings, but it has also become the reference currency in which they manage their financial risks. The global payments and settlement infrastructures created in the 1960s and 1970s enabled and accelerated this process, as they facilitated secure and cost-efficient cross-border financial trading and, more importantly over time, the mobilisation of vast pools of securities as collateral around the globe.

Given how entrenched it has become, it is difficult to see how the dollar could be displaced. However, the dollar's success has generated significant challenges for other countries and has created enormous burdens for the US itself. International holdings of US financial assets, particularly Treasury securities held by foreign governments, have saddled the US with weighty international obligations. The reduced currency flexibility that the US is locked into by Triffin's dilemma has also contributed to wage stagnation and unemployment domestically. Notwithstanding the exorbitant privilege that the dollar has conferred upon the US, therefore, it might be asked whether it is the rest of the world or America that has borne the higher cost.