Is the US dollar’s privilege on borrowed time?

JUST how durable is the US dollar’s preeminence, and how much would it matter if the currency were dethroned?

Until recently, these questions could be confidently dismissed as theoretical curiosities: All very interesting, but the world economy has organised itself around the dollar for decades and, contrary to numerous failed predictions, this isn’t about to change.

The debate about dollar dominance turns on benefits, costs and incumbency. The currency’s standing grants the US a degree of control over the world’s financial systems.