U.S. Dollar Hegemony

There is an interesting article posted at Asia Times Online in which the author, Henry C. K. Liu, accuses the U.S. of being the world's "leading currency manipulator":

Economic imperialism in the age of industrial capitalism provided employment at the core to produce exports to the colonies to earn gold for the home economy. Neo-imperialism in the age of finance capitalism relocates jobs to the periphery and imports products manufactured by low-wage labor paid for with fiat currency (paper money) issued at the core, the surplus of which can only be reinvestment in the issuing economy. Dollar hegemony emerged as the U.S. dollar, a fiat currency since 1971 when president Richard Nixon took it off gold. The dollar continues to assume the role of prime reserve currency for international trade, anchored by transactions in key commodities such as oil being denominated in dollars. U.S. neo-imperialism is intermediated financially by dollar hegemony.

It's a lengthy article, but worth the read for anyone interested in the global economy.