The Bretton Woods Model: the Principles of the System

Abstract

The Conference of July 1944 established the outlines of the international monetary scene as we have known it since the war — of the so-called Bretton Woods system. This system, although modified and shaped by events, remained basic to the international monetary framework until events in the early seventies seemed to show that it was breaking down and was about to be superseded by new arrangements. Whether this is indeed so is a question whose answer is determined by interpretation of very recent events — an interpretation which we shall attempt in a later chapter. Meanwhile, it is apparent that either as a continuing modified system or as a former system which was formative in new events, we must examine the Bretton Woods System in some depth. Thus, without embarking upon a laborious study of the Articles of the Fund and Bank we will attempt an evaluation of the model which was constructed at Bretton Woods. Later, when we shall have examined the working of the model over thirty years, we may be in a position to form useful judgements.