Barry Eichengreen on the History of Global Currencies

Jul 6, 2026 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