On the dollar.

• Author: Rees, Matthew
• Position: Just the Facts: TIE's Executive News Service: THE DOLLAR ISSUE - Brief article

"The U.S. dollar has been the king of currencies since the first world war, when it began to dethrone the pound sterling. Its primacy survived the great inflation of the 1970s and the vast swings in its external value during the 1980s and 1990s. But now, for the first time, it is weak when a plausible rival is strong."

"The shift in the dollar's role is, none the less, slow. By the end of the second quarter of 2007, for example, only a quarter of the foreign currency reserves whose denomination could be identified by the International Monetary Fund were held in euros, up from 18 percent when the euro was launched. Meanwhile, the dollar's share had fallen to 65 percent, from 70 percent in the beginning of 1999."

"Moreover, the decline in the dollar's external value has been precipitous. Against the euro...