In his upcoming speech, World Bank President Robert Zoellick might say that the U.S. would be mistaken to take for granted the dollar's place as the world's predominant reserve currency. The speech would be delivered to the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.

Zoellicks' speech will highlight the increasing possibility of other options to the dollar. 

It is in the middle of an aggressive debate over the dollar's future that remarks from Zoellick have appeared. Policy makers in China and Russia are calling for an alternative to the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

"Zoellick also takes a shot at the Federal Reserve, scoffing at the idea that the central bank should be given more power -- a key component of President Barack Obama's regulatory reform proposal, which calls for the Fed to oversee the nation's financial risk," said a source. 

Zoellick, who referred the Fed as powerful technocrats, said, "They are too independent to be trusted with more authority. I would prefer instead to see more power granted to the Treasury Department. The Treasury is an executive department, and therefore Congress and the public can more directly oversee how it uses any added authority."