A concise and lucidly presented argument. Whilst I lack the expertise to comment on the suggested economic reforms, the notion that the American dollar is a suitable base for international trade is clearly obsolete, and a new paradigm must be sought.
The present international financial debacle is only just warming up - the worst is yet to come. The conditions that prevailed in the post war nineteen forties when the greenback was riding so high that a collapse seemed inconceivable, have long gone.

The main reason why the US dollar is the main currency of reference is because in the 1950s with the rebuilding of Europe and the far east, the US dollar was the strongest and most widely used currency in international trade.

As with many units of reference such as miles, feet, inches, pounds etc, the reason that people use them is because everyone else is.

As of yet there is no currency with as much financial muscle as the US dollar, so whilst most of us rile at using this currency as a reference, it is probably going to be with us for a while.

Thank you for pointing out what should be obvious: the real economy gains nothing from the billions made in financial game playing.
Yes we need the basic infrastructure of a country: energy, minerals, raw material processing and manufacturing. We do *not* need more banking millionaires.
We have let the financial services industry become *immensely* profitable. This "profit" is an effective tax on the real economy.
The US, by using it's military to enforce the global hegemony on oil sales, is making the rest of the world pay for it's excesses. Iran would not be such an issue if they didn't plan to sell oil in Euros, and of course Saddam payed dearly for his attempt to do the same.
No wonder China and Russia are keen to take this opportunity to raise this issue at the G20. The world financial flows must get back into sync with the real economy of goods and services instead of channeling wealth to the very few.