Macro Musings with David Beckworth · Monday, August 3, 2026
Paul Bluestein asserts that the dollar's dominance will persist despite US complacency and the rise of new financial technologies like crypto. He notes that the dollar's use as a geopolitical weapon, such as through sanctions, has significant consequences and can lead to blowback. Bluestein also touches on innovations like central bank digital currencies and tokenized deposits.
“I believe quite strongly that the dollar will retain its dominant role for the foreseeable future, by whatever definition you want to apply to the word foreseeable.”
“When we impose dollar sanctions on an adversary country, people's livelihoods can be very seriously adversely affected. And there can be blowback because countries can use their, you know, some kind of economic weapon against us.”
“The second being, you know, crypto and all these new innovative technologies for the transmission of money, including central bank digital currencies and stable coins and tokenized deposits and so forth.”