American financial supremacy in the twenty-first century resembles Britain’s position in world finance a century ago. Before the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the pound sterling served as the currency of choice for international transactions, just as the dollar does today, and the world’s borrowers visited the City of London to raise capital.
美国在二十一世纪的金融霸主地位和英国在一个世纪前的地位相似。在1914年8月第一次世界大战爆发之前，英镑正如当今的美元一样是国际交易的首选货币，全世界的借款者都造访伦敦时来筹集资本。