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Investors are rightly shying away from putting their money in euros because it might not exist that much longer. The Fed is deliberately pushing down the value of the dollar and the Japanese government is looking to weaken the yen.

Mr. Alexander said people are justifiably worried that the old ways of growing wealth and preparing for retirement don’t work any more.

“Cash delivers nothing, bonds are now playing the role cash used to. Bonds will preserve your wealth but they won’t contribute to wealth accumulation. So what do you do?”

Some try to fix what they believe is a broken financial system, for instance by coming up with a new model for debt rating agencies or a new currency, he said.

Others simply get out in the streets and protest, like the Occupy Wall Street movement.

“I think the frustration that we’re seeing will have lasting consequences,” said Mr. Alexander, adding the social consequences of slow economic growth and ultra-low interest rates are only now becoming manifest.

Whether or not alternatives such as Wikirating or Bitcoin contribute any real answers remains to be seen, but what is certain is that the financial system as it currently exists badly needs a revamp, and that’s happening now. The eurozone countries are in the midst of negotiations that will determine whether one of the world’s biggest currency unions continues to exist. Global financial regulation is undergoing the biggest transformation in history, while governments are in the process of rewriting their social contract.