In keeping with the trend of have a short title followed by a longer title, the full cover of this book reads: Biography of the Dollar: How the mighty buck conquered the world and why it’s under siege.  Of note, I love this cover.

The author of this biography is Wall Street Journal reporter Craig Karmin. I’ve found that business books are often written by one of two people.  You have the academics who are professors and researchers, they usually publish more technical books but some manage to be entertaining.  On the other side you have journalists, whose job is to report on the goings on of a specific industry or subject.  The journalists typically provide easier to read and understand content.  It’s important that you read books written by both as each offer a unique perspective.

This buck bio traces the history of the US dollar in an effort open the reader’s eyes into the role the dollar plays in the global economy today. But this is no timeline my friend.  The book starts out in the present with a hedge fund company called FX Concepts.  Karmin gets some perspective from the manager and some other employees on the role they play in establishing the exchange rates of various currencies all across the globe.  Keep in mind there are a couple hundred currencies in rotation around the world.  What keeps many of them together though is the dollar.

From there we go inside the Bureau of Engraving and Printing the Washington DC.  Inside this building we crank out billions of dollars which the fed purchases for circulation to our banks and then the rest of the world.  The inner workings of this department are most fascinating, and the stories shared make this my favorite section in the book.

Only after these chapters do we start to learn more about the history of the dollar.  Some important moments in time were the end of WWII and when Nixon took us off the gold standard.  WWII ended with only one global power, and with it only one stable currency.  And when Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971 the dollar became the grease in a newly oiled machine called globalization.  There’s more to it than that but you’ll need to read the book to learn what.

The book winds down with the author’s first-hand accounts of the dollar’s role in two other countries, Ecuador and South Korea.  Each has their own objectives with the dollar and both are taking a risk.  Ecuador has ditched their currency and now only use the dollar, and South Korea’s government is going to take on riskier investments than traditional US government bonds, including mortgage backed securities.  I’m anxious to see how that works out.

The final chapter is the must-read chapter.  Karmin analyzes the strength of the dollar and its future role in the global economy.  Will its value die off as it’s diluted by government debt?  Will the euro take over as the global powerhouse?  Is China on the verge of controlling the global economy with all the leverage they have on the world?  You’ll need to pick up the book to find out.

I do have two gripes about this book, but they are minor and merely a representation of my desire to have some kind of criticism of anything I read.  First, the book lacks an organized structure.  While not vital to the success of a book, I certainly expected a biography to follow a chronology of some sort throughout the book.  If you ignore the “biography” in the title you’ll do just fine.  Second, the author uses a writing style that lets the reader visualize the environment.  The book has vivid descriptions of the areas he is visiting in Ecuador and South Korea.  While interesting, I don’t think they add much value to the message.  Both of these issues are minor and easy to get over as neither kept me from thoroughly enjoying the book.

The pluses of this book are many.  I’ve complained in previous reviews that if you can’t send your message in less than 300 pages you’re waiting everyone’s time.  Karmin did it in 250, and I was able to zip through this book with an alarming speed relative to other non-fiction I’ve been reading recently.  Biography of the Dollar really opened my eyes to an area of economics I haven’t spent much time on, and is the best money book I’ve read this year.  This is a must-read for any American with an interest in economics.  You cannot afford to look at the world from the perch of the Mt. America, this book shows you what the world is doing with your money in the valley.

Make sure you flip through the first few pages below.  Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement next week, because I’m giving it away to one of you!

This book was provided to The Weakonomist by the author.

By The Weakonomist

The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics.

categories: books, economics, government