Kenneth Rogoff at the Cambridge Public Library

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Kenneth Rogoff—Maurits C. Boas Professor at Harvard University and former chief economist at the IMF, long ranked among the top ten most cited economists—for a discussion of his new book Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead. He will be joined in conversation by Gish Jen—acclaimed author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon.

Ticketing

RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a hardcover copy of Our Dollar, Your Problem and pick it up at the event. Kenneth Rogoff will sign copies of his new book after the presentation.

A leading economist explores the global rise of the U.S. dollar and shows why its future stability is far from assured.

Our Dollar, Your Problem argues that America’s currency might not have reached today’s lofty pinnacle without a certain amount of good luck. Drawing in part on his own experiences, including with policymakers and world leaders, Kenneth Rogoff animates the remarkable postwar run of the dollar—how it beat out the Japanese yen, the Soviet ruble, and the euro—and the challenges it faces today from crypto and the Chinese yuan, the end of reliably low inflation and interest rates, political instability, and the fracturing of the dollar bloc. Americans cannot take for granted that the Pax Dollar era will last indefinitely, not only because many countries are deeply frustrated with the system, but also because overconfidence and arrogance can lead to unforced errors. Rogoff shows how America’s outsized power and exorbitant privilege can spur financial instability—not just abroad but also at home.

Kenneth Rogoff is Maurits C. Boas Professor at Harvard University, and former chief economist at the IMF. 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. His monthly syndicated column on global economic issues is published in over 50 countries. Rogoff is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has long ranked among the top ten most cited economists, and is an international grandmaster of chess.

Gish Jen's short stories have been included in The Best American Short Stories five times, including in The Best American Short Stories of the Century, edited by John Updike. A fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has been the recipient of a Lannan Literary Award as well as a five-year Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and many anthologies and textbooks. Her most recent book is a collection of stories spanning the 50 years since the opening of China to the West, entitled Thank You, Mr. Nixon, and has an autobiographical novel coming out this October, entitled Bad Bad Girl (Knopf).

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.

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