The U.S. dollar has been dominant since 1944, when the Bretton Woods Agreement substituted dollars for gold in global trade. The U.S. could mint dollars to buy imports and run a trade deficit with no consequences. Foreign central banks held a ballooning supply of dollars trusted to be convertible to gold at a fixed rate. Over time, the pressure became too great, and Nixon abandoned the dollar’s link to gold. Surprisingly, the dollar became more important in its new, “fiat” form, confounding naysayers over the next five decades. Is this time different?

We will cover theory and history pre- and post-Bretton Woods. We'll assess contemporary concerns like government debt, Fed independence, and pop-up wars – and examine candidates for displacing or reducing dollar dominance. Our analysis will include how cryptocurrency technology affects the dollar and its rivals. We'll focus on stablecoins: "tokenized" dollars now regulated by the 2025 Genius Act. A commission is studying New Hampshire's regulatory responsibilities and whether the state should issue its own, branded stablecoin. Crypto boosters assert that these developments will extend dollar dominance. We will have interesting discussions!