Ken Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist, shares his insights on the decline of the dollar and the intricacies of global finance. He reflects on his journey from a chess prodigy to a leading economist, drawing parallels between strategy in chess and economics. Rogoff discusses the historical factors that solidified the dollar's dominance and critiques recent economic policies, particularly surrounding tariffs and debt. He emphasizes the critical role of central bank independence in maintaining economic stability amid rising pressures.
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Ken Rogoff's Chess Beginnings
Ken Rogoff was a chess prodigy who lived in Yugoslavia and Spain pursuing a professional chess career before switching to economics.
He played world-class players and balanced chess with studies until fully shifting to academia at MIT and the Federal Reserve.
insights INSIGHT
Chess Shaped Intellectual Humility
Chess taught Rogoff intellectual humility and that there is always a better idea or someone smarter.
This mindset helps him appreciate the complexity and evolving nature of economics and policymaking.
insights INSIGHT
Origin of Dollar Dominance Phrase
The phrase "Our Dollar, Your Problem" captures the U.S. dollar dominance and global role since Nixon ended gold convertibility in 1971.
It highlights U.S. financial privileges but also the arrogance that angers other nations.
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Kenneth Rogoff is Maurits C. Boas Professor at Harvard University, and former chief economist at the IMF. He has long ranked among the top dozen most cited economists and is an international grandmaster of chess. His influential 2009 book with Carmen Reinhart, This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, shows the remarkable quantitative similarities across time and countries in the roots and aftermath of debt and financial crises. Rogoff is also known for his pioneering work on central bank independence, and on exchange rates. He is co-author of the widely used graduate text, Foundations of International Macroeconomics. Ken’s latest book is Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance and the Road Ahead. In this podcast we discuss Rogoff’s early life and background as a chess prodigy, Yale, MIT and mentors like Rudy Dornbusch and Stan Fischer, Rogoff’s groundbreaking paper on central bank independence, and much more.
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