Note: [] Corresponding author: Andrew P. Sage, Department of Systems
Engineering and Operations Research, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
22030, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The global financial system appears to be heading for a new crisis,
triggered in large part by growing and unsustainable levels of global debt.
Reserve currencies are an essential element of the world's current financial
infrastructure, and are widely recognized for their role in facilitating
international transactions. History has taught us that such currencies are also
quite transient, being subject to adjustments and changes as economic
conditions evolve over time. The United States dollar now serves as the de facto world's reserve
currency. However, this is unlikely to continue unchallenged and unchanged into
the future. The G20 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) appear to be now
considering a reserve currency, such as the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), which
is obtained through participation of many currencies. The major question is not
what will become the new global reserve currency, but how this new currency
will be managed. One of the critical issues associated with this currency management
effort is that of determining the information systems architecture that will be
required, including whether an associated Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
would be helpful in managing this new global currency. An extremely important
element in this currency determination activity is a strong governance protocol
that all the governments and sovereigns will accept and comply with. Otherwise
any new global reserve currency, regardless of whether it is associated with a
major information systems architecture foundation, will likely be
unsustainable. In this paper, we examine these issues.
Keywords: Global reserve currency, service oriented architecture (SOA), foreign exchange market (FOREX), international monetary fund (IMF), G20[TeX:] ^1 – Group of 20 nations, causality of change
