Trust, Scale, and the Unit of Account

In Episode 468 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with renowned economic historian and author Barry Eichengreen about the history of international currencies and the prospects for the US dollar's continued preeminence, drawing on his new book Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto.

The first hour traces the long arc of international currency history, from the invention of coinage in ancient Lydia through the monetary innovations of Athens, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire, to Renaissance Florence, where a city-state with no navy and no silver mines managed to make its currency the dominant medium of exchange in Europe. The hour closes with a discussion about the Dutch Republic's revolutionary contributions to modern money and finance, and the Spanish silver dollar—the first truly global currency, which circulated from the New World to China and remained legal tender in the United States until the eve of the Civil War.

The second hour examines Britain's emergence as the world's first modern financial superpower, whose decline opened the door to the internationalization of the US dollar, and the role that figures like Paul Warburg, the Federal Reserve, two World Wars, and the Bretton Woods Agreement each played in establishing dollar dominance—further cemented by the breakdown of Bretton Woods and the era of floating fiat currencies. They then turn to the present, examining what Eichengreen sees as the two most serious threats to the dollar's continued preeminence: the erosion of the rule of law and separation of powers inside the United States, and the fraying of the alliance relationships that underpin global confidence in dollar-denominated assets.

They close with a discussion about whether stablecoins could extend the dollar's network effects, why the Euro and the Chinese renminbi fall short as credible alternatives, and what a world without a reliable global reserve currency could mean for international trade, finance, and geopolitical stability.

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:

• Subscribing on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, CastBox, or via our RSS Feed

• Writing us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

• Join our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/

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 03/09/2026