This co-hosted podcast episode delves into the history of Eurodollars, a crucial yet often misunderstood aspect of the global financial system. The hosts introduce the topic and then cede the floor to two expert guests, a law professor and a Federal Reserve policy advisor, who trace the origins of Eurodollars from their unexpected beginnings in post-war Yugoslavia, through their development as a tool for sanctions evasion and cross-border trade, to their eventual role in facilitating global commerce. The guests detail how the market's growth was driven by factors such as the need for offshore dollar deposits, the limitations of communication technology, and regulatory differences between US and European banking systems. Listeners gain a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between geopolitical events, regulatory frameworks, and the evolution of the global financial landscape, illustrated by the example of how the Soviet Union's actions in the late 1940s inadvertently laid the groundwork for the Eurodollar market.
