The international monetary system: Toward a more multipolar configuration?

The international monetary system is evolving toward a more multipolar configuration, with the transition being driven as much by fundamentals as by increasing uncertainty at the heart of the system. In this chapter we assess the trajectories of the “big four” (EUR, GBP, JPY, USD) and secondary currencies (AUD, CAD, CHF, CNY) in the past decade and find that the system is increasingly ill-adapted to the reconfiguration of the global economy, bringing to the forefront the need for a reliable alternative international reserve asset that can supplement traditional reserves in euro, pound, yen and US dollar.