When Did the Dollar Overtake Sterling as the Leading International Currency? Evidence From the Bond Markets

45 Pages Posted: 8 May 2012

See all articles by Livia Chitu

Livia Chitu

European Central Bank (ECB)

Barry Eichengreen

University of California, Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Arnaud Mehl

European Central Bank (ECB)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 4, 2012

Abstract

This paper offers new evidence on the emergence of the dollar as the leading international currency, focusing on its role as currency of denomination in global bond markets. We show that the dollar overtook sterling much earlier than commonly supposed, as early as in 1929. Financial market development appears to have been the main factor helping the dollar to surmount sterling’s head start. The finding that a shift from a unipolar to a multipolar international monetary and financial system has happened before suggests that it can happen again. That the shift occurred earlier than commonly believed suggests that the advantages of incumbency are not all they are cracked up to be. And that financial deepening was a key determinant of the dollar’s emergence points to the challenges facing currencies aspiring to international status.

Keywords: foreign public debt, international monetary system, international currencies, role of the US dollar, network externalities, path dependency

JEL Classification: F30, N20

Suggested Citation

Chitu, Livia and Eichengreen, Barry and Mehl, Arnaud, When Did the Dollar Overtake Sterling as the Leading International Currency? Evidence From the Bond Markets (May 4, 2012). ECB Working Paper No. 1433, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2050889 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2050889

Livia Chitu (Contact Author)

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

Barry Eichengreen

University of California, Berkeley ( email )

310 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Arnaud Mehl

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

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