The Almighty Dollar

“A lucid work of economic history.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The history of the dollar is longer and more interesting than people realize. Brendan Greeley, in his The Almighty Dollar, provides the ideal guide to understanding the world’s most important currency.”—Tyler Cowen, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Stagnation and Average Is Over

“Greeley has done us all a service with this terrific, erudite, breathtaking story of the Almighty U.S. Dollar, which, I now know thanks to his scholarship, came well before the United States itself! Whizzing from Bohemia of the Middle Ages right up to today’s multitrillion-dollar eurodollar market, Greeley weaves a fascinating narrative, populated by extraordinary innovators, leading us to a revolutionary conclusion that challenges many of the assumptions monetary economists make about how the modern monetary economy actually works. The Almighty Dollar is a must for anyone who wants to understand the dollar in today’s world.”—David McWilliams, #1 international bestselling author of The History of Money: A Story of Humanity

“Despite being a brilliant and surprisingly fun read, in writing a history of the dollar Greeley inadvertently gives us a new history of money. His key insight is that money is not some kind of magical barter-replacement device or a ring of confidence. Rather, it’s a product. Seen this way the history and the future of the dollar stand far less assured than many assume.”—Mark Blyth, author of Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers

“Greeley’s splendid quest, from Saxon mines to stable coins, makes an epic story vividly accessible. Brimming with startling details, this is also serious financial history with a conclusion ripe for our unsettled times: rulers and borders come and go, but the dollar has outlasted our illusions of sovereignty and control.”—Evan Osnos, New York Times bestselling author of The Haves and Have-Yachts

“Come for the sweeping—and accessible—history of the dollar and the faith people have put in it. Stay for the delightful cameos about the Saxon miners searching for Joachimsthaler, Maryland bills of credit, Hawarden, Iowa scrip, and Andrew Brimmer’s quest to get the Federal Reserve to allocate credit.”—William D. Cohan, New York Times bestselling author of Power Failure and The Last Tycoons

“This is a reporter’s book of detailed, engaging stories and a historian’s book—telling a tale that is stranger, longer, and more rich with significance than any economist’s fable.”—Rebecca Spang, author of Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution

“This is a mesmerizing and fascinating book, breathtakingly researched and spectacularly written, that connects the big story of the dollar—and indeed of other currencies—to the actual experiences of very ordinary people whose lives are transformed, and often wrecked, by money.”—Harold James, author of Seven Crashes and The End of Globalization

“With curiosity, good humor, and a keen eye for human stories, Greeley guides us from centuries-old silver mines to the ongoing machinations of the Federal Reserve Board. Myths about economic sovereignty and objective monetary policy give way to a clear-eyed understanding of a global dollar that has always benefited some at the expense of others.”—Seth Rockman, author of Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery