[sourcery]

This crisis will light a fire under the BRICs. They’ll jettison the USD faster than planned.

[X-spurt]

You forgot the /sarc.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Perhaps but they are going to have to use something more to back it than the "full faith and credit" of a thug former KGB officer. Or that of a modern day Chinese warlord.

The US dollar became the world's reserve currency in 1946 because the US held most of the world's gold, the supremacy of common law, and its victorious global military power. The pound sterling was the previous world reserve currency, backed by gold, silver, the supremacy of common law, and the Royal Navy.

There is an obvious pattern here. China, Russia, and India are accumulating gold. Add South African production and you have the basis for a gold backed united currency. What they are all lacking is military supremacy and the rule of law.

The BRIC nations could unite and issue a currency backed by gold in the near future. How the markets will accept a currency backed by gold held in Moscow and Shanghai is an open question. Personally, I don't trust any of those f*ckers.