Suddenly, national currencies are no longer sacred. Argentina is thinking of replacing its peso with the U.S. dollar, while a Canadian historian predicts that Canada's dollar ''will disappear in our lifetime.'' Europeans in 11 countries are trading in their once-cherished national moneys for the euro, and others around the world are wondering whether to follow in their footsteps. There is talk of a South American single currency, even of ''dollarizing'' the entire Western hemisphere. Serious people have given thought to a euro-like Asian single currency based on the yen. In France, Germany and Japan, government officials want to ''stabilize'' exchange rates among the dollar, the euro and yen, in a kind of global managed float.
Idealists talk of a single world currency one day.
Such fanciful ideas are not all new. French economists proposed a common European currency in something like its modern form in the mid-19th century, and Panama adopted the dollar in 1904. Dollars are already accepted for ordinary purchases at airports, and in quite a few countries, around the world. The successful debut of the euro at the beginning of this year has broken a number of national psychological taboos. At the same time, the Asian crisis and its ramifications have destroyed many people's faith in national currencies that previously seemed relatively stable.