Macro Hive Conversations With Bilal Hafeez Ep. 367: Brendan Greeley on The Almighty Dollar, 500 Years of History, and the Eurodollar Market
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Jul 17, 2026 
Brendan Greeley, journalist and financial historian who covered economic policy for the Financial Times, walks through 500 years of monetary history. He traces the silver origins of the dollar, explains how banks came to create money, and explores the rise of the offshore eurodollar market. He also likens stablecoins to unregulated banks and reflects on career longevity and trade-offs in marriage.
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Monetary Sovereignty Was Hard Won
- Monetary sovereignty is not automatic; the US had to adapt to an existing international dollar and fought over whether money should be locally controlled or merchant-oriented.
- Greeley shows the Constitution forbade state bills of credit and shifted money-creation to banks to satisfy Atlantic merchants.
Colonies Used Layered Currency Systems
- Colonial America operated overlapping currency systems: sterling bookkeeping for overseas trade, Spanish silver coins for settlement, and local promissory notes as transferable currency.
- Colonies used bills of credit, countersigning and ledgers to make small-value transactions work without domestic gold or silver.
Constitution Shifted Money Creation To Banks
- The Constitution stopped states printing bills of credit and delegated money-creation to banks, creating tension between local money for farmers and national money for merchants.
- Greeley argues that this choice centralized monetary control and set the stage for bank-led currency creation.
