Conventional wisdom states that the dollar took over as the leading international currency after the Second World War. This column presents new evidence from the bond markets suggesting it was much earlier in the 1920s. This implies that inertia and lock-in effects in international currencies are not all they’re cracked up to be and that the shift to a multipolar currency system might happen sooner than commonly believed. The global economic and financial crisis has lent new impetus to discussions of the future of the international monetary and financial system. Some advocate moving to a multipolar system in which ... (full story)