Currency Exchange

The human race has a long and rather convoluted history; economics is merely part of the tangle. As tangled as it is, it's no wonder we humans can't just decide on a single way to pay each other off and buy stuff online. The sad truth is, we can't. Because of that, we have to worry about trying to work between Euros and dollars, dinars and yen, and any number of other currencies in use all around the world.

Overview of Currency
Ever since the first stages of globalization, currency has been an important issue. In the 17th and 18th centuries, worldwide commerce first began to call for a currency that could be used across the board by merchants everywhere. At that time, the currency of choice was the famous Spanish dollar, or “pieces of eight,” made famous by countless pirate tales and popular movies today. This Spanish currency was legal tender on most markets, and its connection with naval commerce and international trade of that time period is still strong in our minds today.

Today, though, a different currency is foremost. At the moment, that currency is the American dollar. American dollars, or USD in standard international abbreviation, are used around the world for a number of purposes. Internet based companies, for instance, primarily use United States Dollars for their commerce, and online services exist to convert other currencies into United States Dollars. The United States Dollar has been strong in non-digital markets, as well – in 1996, it counted for around two thirds of the world’s foreign exchange reserves. In 2001, Robert Galpin wrote in Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order that between 40 and 60 percent of all international transactions at that time were conducted in United States Dollars.