*  *  *  The global crisis that hit the world economy since August 2007 has revived the long dormant debate about the adequacy of the institutional arrangements required to ensure stability in international economic and financial relationships on a global scale. The financial roots of the crisis have been widely analysed. Here, I intend to focus more on the macroeconomic drivers.
I will try to argue that they are ultimately connected to a number of long-standing features of the international monetary system such as it has evolved since the demise of the Bretton Woods regime. I will then review the main options available to reform the international monetary and financial system. 1.