Globalisation Process And Problems Of Common World Currency

Abstract

Globalisation, as a unification process of politics, economy and culture on the planet, involves the alignment of several national monetary systems. The term «world money», put forward by British economist James Steuart, was accepted by late mercantilists as part of economic theory. At that time the world money was interpreted as physical commodity gold. This understanding remained unchanged until the final quarter of the 20th century. Only after gold backing was disrupted for dollars in the 70s of the 20th century, gold ceased to fulfill this function. Consequently, there were considerable changes in the world of monetary circulation. However, the essence of those changes has become a debatable topic for theorists. In particular, it is still not clear what the substance of money is nowadays. Is it feasible for a dollar without gold backing to continue functioning as world money? Will its place, as a leader of currency circulation, soon be refilled? In 2008, the emergence of so-called cryptocurrencies, in general, quickly rising in popularity bitcoin, has further clouded the issue. The world financial crisis of 2008-2009 demonstrated that this topic not only is relevant as part of theoretical debate, but represents a problem, requiring a viable practical solution. This article argues that the world now witnesses the arrival of a new form of value - «world money», called upon to become a universal equivalent of currency circulation. Another point is that the dollar is hardly the winner, it is just a temporary leader of the current monetary race.