Paul Blustein has written about economic issues for more than forty years, first as a reporter at leading news organizations and later as the author of several critically acclaimed books. His latest book, published by Yale University Press in March 2025, is King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World’s Dominant Currency.A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, Paul spent much of his career reporting for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. His work has won several prizes, including business journalism’s most prestigious, the Gerald Loeb Award. Articles he has written in recent years have been published by Fortune, Slate, Politico, Foreign Policy, Bloomberg View, and other media outlets. His reporting and research have taken him to more than 50 countries on six continents. Paul lives in Kamakura, Japan with his wife, Yoshie Sakai, and is a father of four, grandfather of two. He continues to work on books as a think-tank fellow, and is currently a senior associate (non-resident) with the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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Episode 412
Paul Blustein
Will the U.S. Dollar Survive the Breakdown of the International System? | Paul Blustein
Paul Blustein has written about economic issues for more than forty years, first as a reporter at leading news organizations and later as the author of several critically acclaimed books. His latest book, published by Yale University Press in March 2025, is King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World’s Dominant Currency.A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, Paul spent much of his career reporting for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. His work has won several prizes, including business journalism’s most prestigious, the Gerald Loeb Award. Articles he has written in recent years have been published by Fortune, Slate, Politico, Foreign Policy, Bloomberg View, and other media outlets. His reporting and research have taken him to more than 50 countries on six continents. Paul lives in Kamakura, Japan with his wife, Yoshie Sakai, and is a father of four, grandfather of two. He continues to work on books as a think-tank fellow, and is currently a senior associate (non-resident) with the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In Episode 412 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with financial journalist and economic historian, Paul Blustein about the U.S. Dollar’s historical resiliency in the face of international shocks and crises, and whether Dollar hegemony can survive the breakdown of the international capital and trading system.
In the first hour, Kofinas and Blustein trace how the U.S. dollar became the de facto currency for global trade, savings, and investment and what recent policy shifts in Washington—and how they have been perceived abroad—may mean for the future value and status of the Greenback.
The second hour builds on this foundation as Paul and Demetri speculate about what the future holds for dollar hegemony in a world characterized by growing trade protectionism, a breakdown in international cooperation, and a potentially irreparable loss of confidence among foreign investors in U.S. leadership and in the strength and reliability of U.S. capital markets.
This could not be a timelier conversation about a subject whose ramifications will continue to play out over many years if not decades to come.
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Paul Blustein has written about economic issues for more than forty years, first as a reporter at leading news organizations and later as the author of several critically acclaimed books. His latest book, published by Yale University Press in March 2025, is King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World’s Dominant Currency.A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, Paul spent much of his career reporting for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. His work has won several prizes, including business journalism’s most prestigious, the Gerald Loeb Award. Articles he has written in recent years have been published by Fortune, Slate, Politico, Foreign Policy, Bloomberg View, and other media outlets. His reporting and research have taken him to more than 50 countries on six continents. Paul lives in Kamakura, Japan with his wife, Yoshie Sakai, and is a father of four, grandfather of two. He continues to work on books as a think-tank fellow, and is currently a senior associate (non-resident) with the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
