For years, the dollar's role as the major global currency has been termed an "exorbitant privilege" — a phrase coined by French Finance Minister and later President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

Now it may be turning into an extravagant curse. The United States wants export-led growth. So do most other countries.

Not all can succeed; one country's export surplus must be others' deficits. But the dollar's global role puts the U.S. at a special disadvantage. It's one cause of slow American growth and high joblessness.