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On 20 November 2019, Professor Michael Hudson delivered a lecture on “De-Dollarization–Toward the End of the U.S. Monetary Hegemony?” in Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China. The moderator was Professor Peter Beattie (The Chinese University of Hong Kong).

Michael Hudson is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and author of …And Forgive Them Their Debts (2018), J is for Junk Economics (2017), Killing the Host (2015), The Bubble and Beyond (2012), America’s Protectionist Takeoff, 1818-1914 (2010), Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire (1968 & 2003), and Trade, Development and Foreign Debt (1992 & 2009), amongst many others. He acts as an economic advisor to governments worldwide including Iceland, Latvia and China on finance and tax law.

De-Dollarization – Toward the End of the U.S. Monetary Hegemony?
Since the end of World War II, the United States has been the world’s hegemonic power. In economic, military, and cultural spheres, the U.S. has enjoyed nearly unrivaled supremacy. However, unlike past hegemons, which have been net creditors to the rest of the world, the United States is a net debtor; but this is a strength, not a weakness. U.S. debt is an integral feature of its economic dominance, through which the United States receives goods and services from the rest of the world in exchange for dollars it can print and keystroke into existence. Yet cracks are showing in the foundations of dollar hegemony, as countries look to find ways to escape from U.S. economic dominance. In this talk, Professor Hudson discussed the prospects and challenges of global de-dollarization, and how countries like China might forge a way toward a different monetary system free of U.S. control.