from Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies

Playing Monopoly with the Devil

Dollarization and Domestic Currencies in Developing Countries

Book by Manuel Hinds

Publisher – Yale University Press

Release Date – Oct 2006

Pages – 288

ISBN 0300113307

Order Print Copy
Book
Foreign policy analyses written by CFR fellows and published by the trade presses, academic presses, or the Council on Foreign Relations Press.

Read an excerpt of Playing Monopoly with the Devil.

Why should a developing country surrender its power to create money by adopting an international currency as its own? This comprehensive book explores the currency problems that developing countries face and offers sound, practical advice for policymakers on how to deal with them. Manuel Hinds, who has extensive experience in real-world economic policymaking, challenges the myths that surround domestic currencies and shows the clear rationality for dollarization or the use of a standard international currency.

More on:

Development

Monetary Policy

The book opens with an entertaining story of the devil, who, through a series of common macroeconomic maneuvers, coaches the president of a mythical country into financial ruin. This ruler's path is not unlike that taken in several real developing countries, to their detriment. Hinds goes on to introduce new ways of thinking about financial systems and monetary behavior in Third World countries.

A Council on Foreign Relations Book

More on:

Development

Monetary Policy

Reviews and Endorsements

Dollarization as a policy idea is much more discussed than tested. Manuel Hinds has helped put it to the test in El Salvador with some impressive results. This book makes a powerful argument: It should be read by all who wish to act or opine on the critical question of whether one country, one currency is right for the twenty-first century.

Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury of the United States and President of Harvard University

In this remarkably lucid and fun book, Manuel Hinds explodes any remaining myths about the need for most countries to maintain their own currencies. For a watertight explanation of how and why dollarization makes eminent sense, one couldn't do better than read this book.

Robert Litan, Vice President for Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and coauthor of Financial Statecraft

Top Stories on CFR

Mexico

Organized crime fuels Mexico’s election violence, plus Europe’s Southern Cone cocaine pipeline
Organized crime’s hold on local governments fuels record election violence; Europe’s cocaine pipeline shifting to the Southern Cone.

Blog Post by Shannon K. O'Neil and Will Freeman April 24, 2024 Latin America’s Moment

Defense and Security

Challenges Facing the U.S. Military, With John Barrientos and Kristen Thompson

Podcast
John Barrientos, a captain in the U.S. Navy and a visiting military fellow at CFR, and Kristen Thompson, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a visiting military fellow at CFR, sit down with James M. Lindsay to provide an inside view on how the U.S. military is adapting to the challenges it faces.

Podcast with James M. Lindsay, John P. Barrientos and Kristen D. Thompson April 23, 2024 The President’s Inbox

Myanmar

The Bottom Is Falling Out for Myanmar’s Junta
The Myanmar army is experiencing a rapid rise in defections and military losses, posing questions about the continued viability of the junta’s grip on power.

Blog Post by Joshua Kurlantzick April 22, 2024 Asia Unbound