Maxwell School News and Commentary

“To me, de-dollarization just means a government’s ability to reduce its dependence or reliance on the dollar,” says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science. “I think the key thing here is to try to distinguish or separate the concept of de-dollarization from the end of dollar dominance. I don’t think those two things have to go together.”

"Moving policies toward racial and ethnic equality: The case of the supplemental nutrition assistance program," co-authored by economists Alfonso Flores-Lagunes and Hugo Jales, was published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

"Over the last 15 years or so, we've seen some policies aimed at promoting its [renminbi] international use, but we've also seen a lot of policies that make it less attractive," says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science.

“China had economic motives to de-dollarize that predate sanction concerns,” says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science. “When the U.S. economy had a financial crisis, China ended up getting hurt. China figured, we should probably promote our own currency now.”

In one study, University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and other researchers found that, if every state simply implemented the same policy environment as Connecticut, “The U.S. would increase its life expectancy by roughly two years,” she says. “That is a massive increase.”

“When China and Brazil sign an agreement like this, it’s trying to put into place the infrastructure that would make it possible to use China’s currency, but that doesn’t mean that individual firms are going to choose that,” says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science.

Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science, discussed the implications of sanctions for the dollar's status, the relationship between dollar dominance and U.S. sanction capabilities, and the response of U.S. major rivals to these measures.

"Returns to Scale in Property Assessment: Evidence from New York State’s Small Localities Coordination Program," co-authored by Maxwell professors Yilin Hou and John Yinger, was published in the National Tax Journal.

Daniel McDowell, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in political science, has written a new book, “Bucking the Buck: US Financial Sanctions and the International Backlash Against the Dollar” (Oxford University Press, 2023). 

Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics, says it would be more difficult for China's manufacturing industry to transition to the high-end amid deteriorating U.S.-China relations and the decoupling of business between the two countries.