Today, the second day, was to be the kick off to the working part of the meeting but as the members glanced at the meeting syllabus they noticed that the opening would not be given by the acting Chairman of the Board of the Bank of International Settlements but by some relatively unknown think tank expert who wasn't even a banker. He would be presenting a lecture on "The Future of the World Economic System."

As they waited for the meeting to begin, many of the members were making comments about the title of the speech by joking that the speaker would come to the podium, lean into the microphone and make a loud farting sound before returning to the guest table to the sound of raucous applause. As the distinguished audience waited in anticipation for the show to start, the opening speaker, Dr. John Waldrop, surveyed the rather self important group and looked forward to seeing the arrogant expressions change to surprise and then horror. He was by nature an iconoclast and today was his day to shine.

The meeting kicked off right on time, as could be expected in Switzerland. A after a few opening remarks by the current president of the G-20, the unknown Dr. Waldrop was introduced with a polite but reserved applause.

Waldrop was a handsome man and his posture and decisive manner showed that as he moved quickly to the podium. He took a draw from a glass of water and then slowly looked over the crowd. The fact that he didn't launch right into the speech made the crowd a bit nervous, like they felt embarrassed for him not remembering his opening lines. But just as he noticed them starting to be uncomfortable, he leaned into the mic and said

"Most of you in this room will be out of a job within one year." At first there was some low rumble from the crowd and then sporadic boos could be heard.

"You see, ladies and gentlemen, the future of the World Financial System will need only one Central Bank. Not only that, the future system will not use money in the traditional sense; it will use digital credits and debits. Every transaction in the world will be electronic and be recorded in a super sophisticated network of super computers. All citizens will be issued a debit card as will all businesses and government agencies. Of course, there will be unrecorded transactions but these will be mostly in the form of barter; you fix my toilet and I will trade you my old TV. But for the most part, an instantaneous running balance will be kept on all individuals, businesses and governments. The informal economy will no longer exist. All taxes will be deducted instantaneously on every single transaction. And that's just for starters." Waldrop took another sip of water and let his words work their implications.

"When will this happen?" He waited a beat. "Within 18 months," he replied.

There was an explosion of disbelief from the crowd. He let the noise level rise as the bankers turned to each other and made faces and gestures as if Waldrop had been speaking obscenities.

"Capitalism, as we have known it, is dead." The crowd really reacted; some were laughing and others looked pensive. Waldrop knew that many in the crowd had probably thought that the recent financial upheaval would bring some major changes. Some might have even anticipated what he was telling them but certainly not for things to change so drastically and in such a short period of time. But then they probably didn't take him seriously; he was just a think tank guy who makes his living in structured day dreaming.

"The base of what I am saying is that this financial crisis was a stress test for fiat money. Look at what happened to the U.S. dollar; it should have tanked but it didn't. Why, because people, traders and governments are believers. Besides, how else will they place value? After three plus decades of unbacked currencies, civilization has moved beyond needing even a tangible currency to represent wealth; almost everybody has gone electronic and they like it and even more importantly, they trust it.

What this current crisis has also shown us is that no matter how much money we supposedly pump into the system, it can be easily taken out through the use of load balancing, call it credit control. Everything can be electronically balanced almost instantaneously. But the purpose of this speech is not to go into detail but suffice it to say the old system of using banks as a system of distribution of money and credit is no longer necessary. And for most of you, your future will become like many of our countrymen out there today looking for new jobs or seeking retraining. Call it the new rite of passage in modern time. If you haven't been divorced or changed a profession, you can't really call yourself an adult." That brought some laughter as some of the more imaginative and open minded shed their fear and turned enthusiastic about the idea of making a change. Most likely, they were bored in their jobs, anyway.

"Historically, the financial markets were a mechanism to provide capital but over the recent past, it has just turned into a casino with very little connection to growth of the real economy. Derivatives, margin and billions in phantom instruments made a mockery of the so called free markets; it turned into a thieves market and only gamblers threw lazy money at it.

Now is the time to make changes that will really benefit the entire world and not just a few players. Face it. You know I speak the truth." He could tell that he had struck a hidden common belief and that his credibility was climbing, but with it the angst that maybe what he was saying might come true. They were paying much closer attention to what he was saying and the smug smiles had disappeared.

"All companies will run like non-profits. Any excess of income can be allocated anyway the company sees fit. If a company needs more capital for expansion or acquisitions, it will get new credits from the Central Bank-notice I said "the" Central Bank- if the business plan seems credible.

"The new Bureau of Centralized Financial Analysis will be made up of experts who have no skin in any game and will judge each application and issue credits with no interest charges. The cost of money and finance will become zero. Imagine what that will do for business.

"Governmental revenues will jump while the individual tax rate will go down because there will be no tax cheating because every transaction will have taxes taken directly before the balance is completed. Hundreds of billions if not trillions will be captured. Making money by commercial lending or investing will no longer exist.