, Columnist
China Digs Itself Deeper Into Dollar Trap
In "The Dollar Trap," Cornell economist Eswar Prasad argues that the U.S. dollar's linchpin role is only strengthening. And China doesn't see it's the dupe in this giant pyramid scheme.
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Reading Eswar Prasad's new book, it's easy to picture the entire global economy as a giant bird cage, with Jack Lew and Janet Yellen standing outside waving at all the unwitting creatures inside.
In "The Dollar Trap," the Cornell University economist doesn't paint the U.S. Treasury secretary or Federal Reserve chairman in sinister terms. Prasad's argument is that for all the worries about U.S. policies and debt, and the many efforts to build up an alternative, the dollar's linchpin role is only strengthening. What struck me most, though, is that China still can't see that it's the dupe in this giant pyramid scheme.