Bretton Woods system
| Bretton Woods system link ModernHistoryProject | |
|---|---|
| File:Bretton Woods book.jpg | |
| Type | economic |
The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial relations among 44 countries whose delegates attended a conference in the Summer of 1944 at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to rebuild the post-World War II global economy.
The conference resulted in the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, cementing the US dollar as the anchor of the international monetary system. Backed by overwhelming American gold reserves and financial leverage, the negotiations established a voting and quota formula that ensured permanent American dominance and structural veto power.
Despite subsequent economic shocks, including the end of gold convertibility and the collapse of fixed exchange rates, the plumbing of the global financial system established at Bretton Woods continues to operate on the very terms set in 1944.
Senior US Treasury official Harry Dexter White dominated the conference, and his vision of post-war financial institutions mostly prevailed over those of John Maynard Keynes, the British representative.[1]