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By the 1950s, the US became an economic superpower - exacting trade relations with almost all countries and posted huge trade surplus with all trading partners. This soon gave the US dollar universal acceptance and elevated it to the status of the world's single largest reserve currency. However, in the wake of globalisation and the emergence of lowcost manufacturers, the US trade surplus took a dent and eventually turned into deficit. The introduction of the euro, a single currency for 15 European nations, in 2002, challenged the dollar as the reserve currency backed by the EU's trade with the rest of the world. Since then the dollar has been weakening - further still after it waged two costly wars, swelling its current account deficits. Aggravated by widespread uncertainty over the US economy, caused by the subprime mortgage crisis, the dollar seemed to lose its long-held status as a strong reserve currency. With remote chances of improvement in the country's balances, the dollar's recovery is far off. This case study helps analyse whether it is possible for the governments or the central banks to control all factors responsible for exchange rate fluctuations.