Why you can't escape the dollar

A primer on why the dollar dominates and why that matters beyond holiday spending money. Taylor explains dollar-invoiced trade (over half the global total, much of it never touching the US), foreign exchange reserves and dollar-denominated debt, then shows the sting: when the dollar strengthens, energy costs rise for importers like the UK and debt repayments balloon for developing countries, squeezing spending on schools and hospitals. The network-effect framing, everyone uses dollars because everyone uses dollars, is memorable. It reaches into Year 2 Macro (exchange rates, the global financial system) and development. Accessible prose despite the ambitious content.  Read here