Only one country in the world issues a currency that is held and recognized in every country in the world. The U.S. dollar has been de facto the world currency since the Bretton Woods accords of 1944.

Having your money accepted for payment in other countries means the U.S. does not have to earn foreign currency abroad or borrow in other currencies.

Other countries try to earn U.S. dollars by selling more than they buy from the rest of the world. When not earning U.S. dollars, countries have to borrow dollars.

Borrowed U.S. dollars have to be repaid in newly earned dollars. Such U.S. dollar-denominated debt is a real constraint on governments the world over.

Asked about Donald Trump, former prime minister Brian Mulroney responded, "he is a real gentleman." For Mulroney, a lifelong friend of everything American, Trump will be good for Canada. He thinks the U.S. president and Justin Trudeau will develop a productive friendship.

Mulroney is merely the opening act in what will be a major Canadian media campaign to "normalize" the president-elect and showcase his program. Canadians will be expected to discount what Trump has said about women, Mexicans, Muslims or immigrants, as has Brian Mulroney, and another Trump Florida neighbour, Conrad Black. Big business voices will want citizens to focus on what President Trump and Canada can accomplish together.

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

It was a night for nostalgia, the eighth and last White House Correspondents Dinner for U.S. President Barack Obama. The one-time Harvard Law Review editor and community organizer, a basketball-savvy president with worldwide appeal, was doing his final stand-up before the audience of media, political and Hollywood stars.

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

Two spectral presences appeared during Justin Trudeau's visit to Washington, one Canadian and one American. You could almost see them onscreen, then they frustratingly faded, as spectres do.