Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In 1944 at Bretton Woods, as a result of the collective conventional wisdom of the time, [19] representatives from all the leading allied states collectively favored a regulated system of fixed exchange rates, indirectly disciplined by a US dollar tied to gold [20] —a system that relied on a regulated market economy with tight controls on the ...
Mount Washington Hotel. The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to regulate what would be the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War II.
The Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 established an international fixed exchange rate system based on the gold standard, in which currencies were pegged to the United States dollar, itself convertible into gold at $35/ounce.
In 1944, representatives from 44 nations met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to develop a new international monetary system that came to be known as the Bretton Woods system. Conference attendees had hoped that this new system would "ensure exchange rate stability, prevent competitive devaluations, and promote economic growth". [ 5 ]
In the Bretton Woods system put in place in 1944, U.S. dollars were convertible to gold between countries. In France, it was called "America's exorbitant privilege" [2] as it resulted in an "asymmetric financial system" where foreigners "see themselves supporting American living standards and subsidizing American multinationals".
A fixed exchange rate, often called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of exchange rate regime in which a currency's value is fixed or pegged by a monetary authority against the value of another currency, a basket of other currencies, or another measure of value, such as gold or silver.
In support of the Bretton Woods system and to exert control over the exchange rate of gold, the United States initiated the London Gold Pool and the General Agreements to Borrow (GAB) in 1961 which sustained the system until 1967, when runs on gold and the devaluation of the pound sterling were followed by the demise of the system.
In addition, under the Bretton Woods system, other countries’ currencies were kept at a fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar, which in turn was pegged to the value of gold. Later in the 20th century, the U.S. began to accumulate balance-of-payment debt and its gold reserve (once 60% of all gold) began to shrink.