Given the path we are on (high levels of debt, unsustainable deficits and the promise of massive unfunded future liabilities), it is not a matter of if, but when, the current structures and institutions that comprise the existing international monetary system (actually that is bit of a misnomer because there is no actual system, but a loose assortment of institutions, rules and accepted norms) collapse under the weight of their own imbalances and corruptions.
2008 was a shot across the bow, but it doesn't look as though we are paying heed to the warning. As such, in the absence of courageous change and honest leadership, we are still on a path to reckoning. You can pay the piper now, or pay the piper later (with interest). That is the choice when you stretch beyond the laws of economics.
But let me be clear. It is not likely to be a collapse in a catastrophic sense. Rather it is likely to be over a long period, punctuated by short periods of crisis, and with the consequent dismantling of whatever structure, institution or norm is ailing us at that particular point in time.
We will awake at some point in the future, and in looking back, will see that all the institutions, structures, rules, and norms that guided us, have been replaced by a new set of rules, structures, and institutions.
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