Thus, the picture starts to look rather like the one that led Professor Kennedy to make his premature judgment: twin budget and current-account deficits raising the cost of money and making the dollar volatile, while politicians and voters start to wonder whether they have taken on too much.

ECONOMIST: More a question of psychology than economics

America would resist, because losing its reserve-currency status would raise the cost of financing its budget and current-account deficits.

ECONOMIST: China suggests an end to the dollar era