Recommended Weekend Reads

February 24 - 26, 2023 

We thought you might find the following useful reading. Let us know your thoughts and if you or a colleague want to be added to our distribution list. Have a great weekend.

·       “The Dollar Still Dominates – American Financial Power in the Age of Great-Power Competition” Carla Norrlöf, Foreign Affairs

The centrality of the U.S. dollar in world affairs is mainly determined by economic factors, but geopolitical forces appear to be threatening to weaken its top spot in the currency hierarchy. U.S. sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have pushed some countries to further reduce their reliance on the dollar.  But an end to the dollar’s dominance is still unlikely. The dollar is the preferred currency of governments, accounting for approximately 60 percent of central bank reserves in late 2022, compared with the euro’s 20 percent, and the yen’s six percent. Individually, the pound, the Chinese yuan, and the Canadian and Australian dollar represent less than five percent of government reserves. The dollar is also dominant, although less so, in private markets.

·       “Bearing the Brunt: The Impact of the Sanctions on Russia’s Economy and Lessons for the Use of Sanctions on China” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

A new report by the CSIS Economics Program assesses the effects and effectiveness of the international sanctions and export controls aimed at Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is the first of three reports exploring the feasibility and implications of the United States using economic measures to deter China in a crisis over Taiwan. Subsequent reports will analyze the economic interdependencies and vulnerabilities of the Chinese and U.S. economies and evaluate how economic measures might be deployed during various Taiwan contingencies.

·       “United West, divided from the rest: Global public opinion one year into Russia’s war on Ukraine” European Council on Foreign Relations

A new poll suggests that Russia’s war on Ukraine has consolidated ‘the West;’ European and American citizens hold many views in common about major global questions. In contrast, citizens in China, India, and Turkiye prefer a quick end to the war even if Ukraine has to concede territory.

·       “Election-Denying Republican Candidates Underperformed in the 2022 Midterms” Janet Malzahn/Andrew B. Hall, Stanford University School of Business

Researchers at Stanford Business School, using  newly collected election data with records of public denials of the results of the 2020 election to estimate the degree to which election-denying Republican candidates for senator, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general over- or under-performed other Republicans in 2022. They found the average vote share of election-denying Republicans in statewide races was approximately 2.3 percentage points lower.