My latest Macro Musings podcast is with Eswar Prasad. Eswar is a professor of economics at Cornell University and a senior fellow at Brookings Institution. He joined me to talk about his new book, Gaining Currency: the Rise of the Renminbi.
We began by reviewing the history of money in China. Many people know that China had the first paper currency, but few appreciate that China had the first debates over monetary theory and role of the state in money creation. China also had the first currency war--literally a physical war between two competing central banks in China--as well as its own interesting monetary history during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
We then moved to China's exchange rate regime and the thorny question of whether China's currency being undervalued in the past and whether it was now overvalued. We also discussed how consequential was the past undervaluation of China's currency to the huge trade surplus it ran with the United States. Our conversation also covered the role the Fed played in setting monetary conditions in China via its currency peg to the dollar.
The interview wrapped up by considering the prospects of the Renminbi becoming a truly important currency. This was a fascinating conversation throughout.
You can listen to the podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, or your favorite podcast app. You can also listen via the embedded player above. And remember to subscribe since more episodes are coming.
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