Barry Eichengreen on the History of Global Currencies

巴里·艾兴格林论全球货币史

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

2026-07-06

57 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Barry Eichengreen is well known author, economist, and economic historian from the University of California, Berkeley. In Barry's first appearance on the show he discusses a career in untangling the world's monetary history, the origins of his new book Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto, the first uses on currencies in the 7th Century BC, the unexpected start of the dollar, how we landed on the central bank model, the dollar's rise to global reserve currency, which if any currencies as poised to take on the dollar, and much more. Watch the full length video on our new YouTube Channel! Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links. Recorded on May 27th, 2026 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Barry on X: @B_Eichengreen Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:17 - Barry's Books 00:10:14 - Money Beyond Borders 00:17:17 - Lydia and Greece 00:20:46 - Renaissance of Credits 00:23:36 - Spanish Silver 00:28:26 - The Emergence of Central Banks 00:38:11 - British Empire vs. Roman Empire 00:43:34 - Dollar as One of the Dominant Reserve Currencies 00:56:29 - Outro
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  • Welcome to Macro Musings, where each week we pull back the curtain

  • and take a closer look at the most important macroeconomic issues of the past, present, and future.

  • I am your host, David Beckworth, a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,

  • and I'm glad you decided to join us.

  • Our guest today is Barry Eichengreen.

  • Barry is a well-known economist and economic historian from the University of California, Berkeley,

  • where he has authored over 30 books, many on the international monetary system.

  • Today, he joins us to discuss his latest book, Money Beyond Borders, Global Currencies from Cresses to Crypto.

  • It's a sweeping 2,500-year history of cross-border money,

  • stretching from the very first ancient coins to the rise of cryptocurrencies and central bank digital.

  • Tokens.

  • In a world facing rising political gridlock and the constant talk of de-dollarization,

  • this book uses the patterns of the past to show us exactly how global reserve currencies rise,

  • how they fall, and what the future holds for the U.S.

  • Dollar.

  • Barry, welcome to the program.

  • Good to be with you, David.

  • I'm a fan of the podcast.

  • Well, thank you.

  • Well, I am a fan of your work, and you are one of those individuals who's been influential on me,