On 9 October 2026, Samer Srouji successfully defended his PhD thesis investigating the rise and fall of world money and the role currencies play as units of account in the international monetary system.
In his thesis, Srouji argued that conventional explanations of the rise and fall of world currencies, which tend to focus on international reserve holdings, overlook the deeper monetary mechanisms through which currencies acquire global status.
Drawing on competing theories of money, historical experience and insights from Keynes, he argued that the unit of account function – the currency in which international trade and financial obligations are denominated – is central to understanding the emergence and persistence of world money.
Srouji's research connects this theoretical debate to enduring weaknesses in the international monetary system since the collapse of Bretton Woods, including asymmetric adjustment, the modern Triffin dilemma and the provision of global liquidity. It argues that meaningful monetary reform requires a stronger theory of world money, particularly as growing geopolitical fragmentation and initiatives such as those pursued by the BRICS point toward the possibility of competing monetary architectures.
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Rewatch Samer's defence introduction
