To explain the continued dominance of the dollar in global finance, look to the infamous 1%

Despite gloomy predictions of a currency collapse in the lead up to the Great Recession, the US dollar has gained 37 percent in the last five years. Sandy Hager looks at why the dollar has defied expectations, arguing that it is supported by strong demand across the world for US public debt. This demand is supported, he writes, by the power of domestic owners of US debt, who are dominated by those in the top 1 percent of incomes, and who have the close grip on electoral politics needed to ensure that the US stays fiscally credible so that its debt remains a safe haven.