For more than a half-century, the dollar has been not only America's currency, but the world's as well. It has been the dominant unit used in cross-border transactions and the principal asset held as reserves by central banks and governments.
But, already before the recent debt-ceiling imbroglio, the dollar had begun to lose its luster. Its share in the identified foreign-exchange reserves of central banks, for example, had fallen to just over 60 percent, from 70 percent a decade ago.
The explanation is simple: the United States no longer dominates the world economy to the extent that it did in the past. It makes sense that the international monetary system should follow the global economy in becoming more multipolar. Just as the U.S. now has to share the world stage with other economies, the dollar will have to make room for other international currencies.
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