This:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2941610.html
Is a plausible assessment of the current status of the global economy.
Ladies and gentlemen, please prepare for some turbulence, and the slight chance of the wings falling off. Please adjust your budget Low and Tight, ensure your financial obligations are as complicated as possible, and place your credit card in the full upright position. In the event of an emergency currency decompression, platitudes will drop from the ceiling and hot air will be pumped through. Please fit your own placebo before helping others. Please remove your shoes so we can sell them, and make a note of your nearest exit from the global economy, which may be Grifftopia.
Well, I exagerate for poetic purposes, but we have 20 - 30 years of debt-fueled growth to pay off. I don't think goats will be the next global currency, but I don't think it is going to be the Euro either.