The dollar is the ultimate symbol of American economic power — an accidental and misleading phenomenon, Brendan Greeley argues in his new book “The Almighty Dollar: 500 Years of the World’s Most Powerful Money,” which he discusses on the latest Drinks With The Deal podcast.

The dollar emerged as a significant medium of exchange in Europe in the 1520s, almost three centuries before the then-new U.S. government used the term to designate its money. And the U.S. dollar became the world’s most important currency after World War II because of the efforts of U.K. financial institutions and not through the concerted effort of the U.S. government, which struggled to respond to the rise of the dollar overseas.

Greeley argues that money is both protean, its precise nature impossible to pin down, and inherently political, in that government choices about it inevitably help some people at the expense of others. Though formally a creation of the state, money often seems to be beyond anyone’s control.

Listen to the podcast with Brendan Greeley below:

More podcasts from The Deal are available on iTunes, Spotify and on TheDeal.com.

For a longer look at the book, read the review here.