If/Then - Dollar Diplomacy: The Hidden Power of Geoeconomics

Dollar Diplomacy: The Hidden Power of Geoeconomics

02/19/25 • 26 min

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The pen may be mightier than the sword — but the dollar beats them both. Economic leverage has long shaped the world order, and today global powers use financial networks, trade policies, and sanctions as tools of persuasion — or coercion.

In this episode, Matteo Maggiori, the Moghadam Family Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, outlines why he believes the U.S. dollar remains the world’s financial backbone, why China wants to create an alternative, and how global financial networks serve as both tools of economic statecraft and sources of financial instability in an increasingly multipolar world.

This episode features Paula Findlen, the Ubaldo Pierotti Professor of History at Stanford University.

How do you feel about a future where the buck no longer stops with the U.S.?? Email us at [email protected].

Previous Episode

Broken Systems, Broken Trust: Why We Need New Rules

“The ultimate price of a bad system falls on the public,” says Anat Admati, the George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business and author of The Bankers’ New Clothes. “The Constitution did a lot to constrain the government, but the government has failed to constrain institutions in the private sector.” Simply put, Admati says the real problem isn’t just profit-hungry corporations, it’s the systems that let bad actors get away with it. From the opioid crisis and Boeing’s deadly 737 MAX disasters to the 2008 financial crash, Admati identifies how U.S. institutions failed — and shares the “incredibly sobering” realization that shattered her faith in the rules and those who make them.

This episode features Dominic Cruz and Maya Kesselman Cruz, who perform in the live circus show "Dear San Francisco” at Club Fugazi.

How do you think we can restore trust in business, government, and society? Email us at [email protected].