May 26, 2013  For years, the dollar’s role as the major global
currency has been termed an “exorbitant privilege” — a phrase
coined by French Finance Minister and later President Valéry
Giscard d’Estaing. Now it may be turning into an extravagant
curse. The United States wants export-led growth. So do most
other countries. Not all can succeed; one country’s export
surplus must be others’ deficits. But the dollar’s global role
puts the United States at a special disadvantage. It’s one cause
of slow U.S. growth and high joblessness.    A global currency
needs two qualities: trust and usefulness. People — government
officials, money managers, business executives, consumers — have
to believe the money will hold its value and that other people
will routinely accept it. The greatest threat to the dollar’s
international role occurred in the 1970s when high inflation,
averaging 10 percent annually from 1977 to 1981, undermined
America’s commitment to a stable currency. With inflation
conquered in the 1980s, confidenc