From Bretton Woods onwards: the birth and rebirth of the world's hegemon

Will the dollar soon lose its key international currency status? In this article I argue that neither the emergence of the Euro nor geopolitical issues threaten the future of the dollar. The world's central banks may slow down their accumulation of dollars, but are unlikely to put an end to the dollar standard regime. I also caution against confusing the international role of the dollar as the supreme store of value with its two other roles—as the dominant international unit of account and medium of exchange. These latter two functions do not change abruptly, meaning, once again, that there is no immediate threat to the future of the dollar. The article also discusses similarities between today's dollar standard and the Bretton Woods regime, and conclude that the complexity of today's system is such that it cannot just be defined as a repetition of the Bretton Woods system, or ‘Bretton Woods 2’.