Dollar Rivals
Journal: National Bureau of Economic Research
Year: 2023

Written on the 50th anniversary of floating exchange rates, this paper deals with possible alternatives to a unipolar dollar-based system.It considers (1) measures of international currency use; (2) potential challengers to the dollar; (3) network externalities; and (4) the plausibility of gold and digital currencies, as alternatives to regular currencies.On the one hand, network externalities operate in favor of the status quo: the dollar as the single leading international currency.On the othe